Chasing Shadows
by Starr Williams
Summary: Elisa is forced to face something that she's never had to deal with before and, even with her fellow detectives, they can't seem to find the person responsible. When the clan steps in to help, will one of them make the ultimate sacrifice to keep her safe? And will they finally be able to find the person responsible?
1. Chapter 1

**Obligatory Legal Stuff****: All the characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The**

**Goliath Chronicles are copyright Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. **

**No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the**

**copyright holder.**

****

**Chasing Shadows**

**Written by Starr Williams **

-{- -{- -{- -{- -{- -{-

Elisa made her way through the quiet hallways of Manhattan General Hospital.

She had been in this building so often, she wondered if they offered a kind of frequent visitor discount program.

Elisa made her way to the East wing of the hospital, down the sterile halls with the white walls and beige tiled floors. The strong scent of the hospital's disinfectant tickling her nostrils, and bringing with it memories of her time here.

Some good, some not so good, but it was all part of the job. No one became a cop without expecting to be injured at some point in their career. Elisa had been in this particular hospital for everything from a minor concussion to a life-threatening gunshot wound.

For once, however, she was not a patient.

She was here for a meeting with a one-time friend, one-time enemy, and wondering if she was doing the right thing.

She was here to meet with Jason Canmore.

At one time, even if it had been brief, they had been partnered together within the NYPD. He'd been disguised as a police officer, and had been paired with her to "show him the ropes". They had seemed to mesh well, and for a blink of time, perhaps something more. It had been a low point, when she'd been questioning her feelings for Goliath, when she and Jason had flirted a bit and even shared a kiss…

Ironically, it was that kiss that had brought Elisa to her senses where Goliath was concerned. It had finally made her mind catch up with what her heart already knew.

Then, in a matter of a few days, she'd found out that Jason was a Gargoyle Hunter, tried to keep him and his siblings from killing the gargoyles, and vice versa. She'd gotten between them and ended up accidentally falling from the river dam into the Hudson River, where Jason had saved her life by getting her out of there. The whole fiasco ended when Jason's siblings, Jon and Robyn, had tried once more to kill all of the Gargoyles… Demona specifically, but by that time, they weren't too picky… and destroying Saint Damien's Cathedral in the process.

Jason had thrown himself in front of Goliath, taking the laser blast himself, and ended up paralyzed from the waist down for his trouble.

He had stopped his brother, Jon, from shooting Goliath, she'd give him that.

He had even outright bought the condo that she lived in after she'd been asked to leave her former apartment because of the fallout from the Saint Damien's mess as a way to make amends to her and the clan for the actions of his family.

He had flat out refused to let Elisa come and testify at his trial, wanting to accept the full weight of his family's punishments.

And so, after weeks in the hospital for medical treatment and a short round of therapy, he'd been sentenced to 10 years in a federal prison… significantly less than his siblings had received. Five years later, and now Jason had been released because of good behavior. He had gotten out two months ago, and in that time he'd gotten an apartment, and a job at the hospital helping with physical therapy for people who had been seriously injured as he had been.

Elisa stopped outside of the door marked "Pediatric Physical Therapy" and sighed.

"Here we go," Elisa said quietly and pushed the button on the wall that would open the doors.

Twin wooden doors swung open to reveal a room full of gym and rehabilitation equipment. Almost every machine had someone on it, the oldest looking somewhere in their late teens. The air was filled with young voices chattering, some were cheering someone on, and still others were complaining.

It was a form of organized chaos.

Elisa looked around the room, finally locating Jason in the back of the room. He was working with a young man who was pulling a set of bright yellow Thera Bands.

Elisa was familiar with these, having worked with them a few times when she'd received arm or shoulder injuries. She swore the only reason they were so cheerfully colored was to disguise the fact that they were actually torture devices. They were thick strips of rubber, the colors signifying the strength of the resistance, and were evil during physical therapy sessions.

The young man was standing, holding the band to the floor with one foot, arms to his sides as he bent at the elbows to stretch the rubber upwards.

"Five more," Jason was saying as Elisa walked up behind both of them. "You can do it, Chris."

Elisa saw that Jason had a band of the same color looped under the foot of his wheelchair and was doing the exercise with the young man.

The young man visibly clenched his jaw and worked his muscles to pull the bands.

Once the required number of repetitions had been made, Chris let the bands go so that they hit the floor with a snap.

He turned to face Jason, his face lit with the accomplishment. He must have caught sight of her out of the corner of his eye and turned his head to see her.

"Wow," He said, his expression turning to one of comical young love. He leaned a hand on the arm of Jason's chair, and nodded her way. "Hey. How you doin'?"

Elisa couldn't help herself. She raised an eyebrow in his direction, and dropped her voice a bit to be just a little husky. "I'm fine. Sorry to interrupt the workout."

Jason turned his chair, just enough to jostle the young man back upright. He saw her and laughed.

"You're out of your league man," Jason said. "She'll eat you alive."

"What a way to go," The boy said with an exaggerated sigh.

Elisa burst out with a laugh. "You'd better hold onto that, Romeo. Save some for the other girls."

"What other girls?" He asked innocently.

Elisa sent a look at Jason.

Jason shrugged. "Don't look at me."

Elisa shook her head at the pair. "Sorry, I'm a little early."

"No problem," Jason said, glancing at the clock. "We have five minutes left here, then I'm off for lunch."

Chris looked at him hopefully.

"No," Jason said firmly. "You are not invited."

"Aw, man," Chris said with a definite hint of a whine in his voice. "Why not? You know my brother's going to be late picking me up. He'd never know."

"No." Jason said, his voice stern, even if humor did show in his eyes.

Chris looked so crestfallen that Elisa had to bite back a laugh.

"Come on, you," Jason said, nudging Chris. "Let's go hit the hand bikes."

"Aw, man," Chris said with a huff. "Finally get a smokin' lady in here, and I have to do those weenie hand bikes?"

"Ugh," Elisa groaned. "Those are brutal."

Chris sent her a speculative look. "You've had to use 'em?"

"Yes," Elisa said. "Quite a bit, actually."

"What for?" He asked suspicious.

Elisa knelt a little to get to his level. She reached in her jacket and pulled out her badge. "I'm a detective with the NYPD. I have been shot... Twice, actually," Elisa grimaced. "It wasn't fun, and I don't recommend it. Both times I ended up having to use the Thera Bands and the hand bikes to get my strength and full range of motion back."

"No shit?" Chris breathed.

"Chris," Jason snapped. "Language."

"Sorry," Chris flushed, embarrassed.

"I really did," Elisa said, ignoring Jason for the moment. "And look," Elisa rotated her arm in the air. "I got it all back."

"Okay," Chris said, and wandered over to the hand bike station. He sat, and began pushing the pedals in a steady motion with his hands, his face betraying any discomfort as he reached the uppermost position of the action before bringing it around again.

"Thanks," Jason said with a smile.

"I'll just wait over on the benches there," Elisa said, pointing to where a couple of adults were waiting nearby.

Elisa made her way to the bench that currently held two women, both in their mid-30's, and a younger man, probably early 50's. Elisa sat on the end, next to the older of the two women, and waited for Jason's session to be done.

Five minutes later, Chris gave her a lost puppy look in farewell, as he made his way over to the doors.

Elisa gave him a wave and received a grin and a wink in response.

"I feel the need to apologize for that young man," Jason said, wheeling up to her side. "He's incorrigible."

"He's going to be a ladies man, that's for sure," Elisa chuckled.

"Well," Jason said, looking at his watch. "I am free until 2:30, so how would you feel about getting out of here and hitting the pizza place next door? It's after the lunch hour, so it shouldn't be crowded."

Elisa agreed, and they were off.


	2. Chapter 2

Elisa grabbed a table while Jason ordered their pizza.

"One supreme with everything, coming our way," Jason said. He swung his chair in to the open space at the end of the booth Elisa had chosen.

"That sounds amazing," Elisa said.

"I wasn't sure if you were going to work after this," Jason admitted, "But I am, so I just ordered us both iced teas. They'll be out soon."

"Tea is perfect," Elisa said. "So, how have you been doing since you were released?"

"It's been interesting," Jason admitted. "Our family was always well off…"

"Well off?" Elisa broke in.

"Okay," He said, sheepishly. "We were stinkin' rich."

"Better," Elisa laughed.

"But now," He gave a one shouldered shrug. "I had an accountant set money aside for each of us to survive on when we got out of prison, and hired an investment firm to take care of that money for us. They invested wisely, enough that I will be comfortably set for a while, and so will Robyn, when she gets out. I got released, found a small apartment and for the first time in my life, I have an actual job."

He paused as the waitress brought over their drinks, then looked at Elisa and smiled. "I'm enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would."

Elisa raised her glass in a toast. "Here's to you becoming an honest to goodness working man."

He raised his glass and tapped the rim against hers. "Cheers."

The waitress returned with their pizza, and for a few moments, they were occupied with the food.

"Elisa," He began hesitantly, "I wanted to thank you."

Elisa frowned. "For what?"

He sent her a look that said he wasn't buying it. "For your help with the parole hearing and speaking on my behalf."

Elisa paused, a slice of pizza almost to her mouth, and studied his face. She heaved a sigh ans slowly, she lowered the piece back to her plate. "How did you find out?"

Jason smirked. "I asked my lawyer."

"Well," Elisa said, raising the piece again. "No use denying it, I guess."

"Why?" Jason asked. "Not that I'm not grateful, but…"

Elisa sighed. "It's not an easy question to answer, and even if I tried, I'm not sure I would be able to. You saved my life, hauling me out of the river. You showed me that you were tired of the hunt and wanted to change, then you proved it by throwing yourself in front of Goliath to save his life. Plus," she added, "You pled guilty to the destruction that was done to the church, when you weren't even there for it. I know," Elisa pointed to him accusingly, "Because I was with you at the time that Robyn and Jon destroyed the place, and I would have said so if you would have let me go to your sentencing."

"You know why you couldn't go," He said softly.

Elisa sighed. "That's another thing, and don't think I'm not grateful…"

"Stop," Jason said harshly. "My family has caused the Gargoyle race enough grief over several lifetimes. You are a much needed ally for them, to keep them safe, and you needed a place to live. Robyn and I spoke just after I found out about your living situation, and we both agreed to the purchase of the condo. We tried to set it up to where it couldn't be traced back to us, but just in case we missed something, we didn't want it to look like you were being bribed to speak for us."

Elisa gave up. "Well… I never got the chance to thank you in person, so Thank you."

"You're welcome," Jason said. "Now that that's out of the way, how are you doing?"

"I'm doing alright," Elisa said.

"More than 'alright', I see," Jason said, pointing to her wedding ring.

"Yeah," Elisa said, twisting the band self-consciously. "Never thought it would happen, the whole being married with a kid thing."

He looked surprised. "Really? You have a child?"

"A son," Elisa said. "His name is Liam, and we adopted him a few years ago."

"That's amazing," Jason said.

"It is," Elisa said. "If anyone would have told me a few years ago that I'd be married with a kid, I'd have laughed, but now…"

"You're happy," Jason said. "I can see it on your face."

Elisa rolled her eyes. "You should know better than to ask a parent about their kid. We'll go on for hours."

"It's good to see you," He said softly. "I wasn't sure you'd want to see me again."

Elisa tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. "Well, the whole being a hunter thing kind of irritated me, not to mention the whole drugging me and leaving me in my apartment," She threw him a look, "But… you're not a bad guy, and you have been trying to correct your mistakes. I'm not totally heartless, and thought you deserved a second chance."

"Thank you," He said. He looked at the clock. "It's almost time for me to get back to work."

Elisa got to her feet. "I'll walk back with you."

Jason wheeled himself towards the door. "You don't have to come with me if you do not want to."

Elisa shrugged. "I'm kind of curious about your set up here. I've been in physical therapy before, and it's kind of nice to see things from a non-participant angle." Elisa absently slowed her pace to match his. "Do you only work with the younger ones? Or do you work with adults too?"

"Oh, I work with some adults," Jason said. "Mostly, only by request from the therapists, and only when they have a patient having a hard time adjusting to being wheelchair bound."

They continued talking about his work, his volunteering with a youth wheelchair league, and a few other bits about his life 'on the outside'.

They were almost to the door of the Physical Therapy room, when he asked, "Would you mind coming down to the Y and joining us for a night? I think the kids would really enjoy it."

The doors to the therapy room opened, and Elisa spotted Chris leaving with a mid-20's something man. She gave Chris a little wave goodbye before turning back to Jason.

Elisa mentally ran through her calendar. "Let me know what nights you guys get together, and I'll see if I can drop by."

"We meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays."

"Okay," Elisa said. "Today's Monday, so I'll try to stop by tomorrow. I may have my partner with me, and may not be able to stay long, but I'll try to drop in."

"Sounds like a plan."


	3. Chapter 3

Elisa and Matt stopped by the YMCA the next night. It was a slow night, but if anything happened, they had their phones on them so they weren't completely out of contact.

"So," Matt said as they exited the car. "Why are we doing this again?"

"Community outreach?" Elisa said. "Good PR?"

"Seriously," He asked, stopping short of the doors. "You're wanting to go in and support a former felon and a former hunter on top of it?"

"Former being the phrase here," Elisa said. "He did his time, and now he's out trying to be better."

Matt sighed. "Alright. Let's do this thing."

"Stop with all the enthusiasm," Elisa said with a laugh. "I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself."

They were walking down the hall, almost to the gymnasium where the raised voices of happy kids met their ears.

"Okay," Matt said with a grin. "Maybe this won't be so bad."

"It'll be fine," Elisa said. "We'll just pop in for a few minutes and…"

Elisa gave a short, involuntary scream as her feet slid out from under her, and she hit the floor hard on her back.

"Elisa!" Matt exclaimed. He knelt down beside her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," She pushed herself up, and looked at the wet tile beneath her. "Careful of that last step," She said with a chuckle.

"I am so sorry," Came a breathless male voice. "Can I help you?"

Elisa jumped. She hadn't seen anyone there, but the voice was close by. There was a young man, possibly mid-twenties at the oldest, in a YMCA uniform.

"Yeah, Thanks," Elisa said, holding her right hand up to the man and her left to Matt. Together, they got her to her feet without her embarrassing herself any more than she already had. Instinctively, she felt for the chain around her neck that held her wedding ring.

With a sigh, she felt it there, under her shirt, safe and sound. It was an antique ring, found within the ruins of Castle Wyvern as it was being torn down for transport to Manhattan, and given to her by Goliath. It was irreplaceable, and she often kept it on the thick chain during work hours to make sure that nothing happened to it.

She looked at the other man, noticing the 'Wet Floor' sign in his hands.

The young man looked upset. "It's my fault. I should have had someone stay here to warn people about the puddle before I went to get the sign and mop."

Elisa glanced down at her pants and grimaced. The water… please gods, let it have been water… had turned the wet patches a darker shade of blue from her knee to her boots. She ran her hands across her backside and cringed at the dampness there. She couldn't walk into a gym full of people looking like this. Elisa heaved a sigh. "I guess I should go to the ladies room and stand under the hand dryers for a few minutes."

"Go ahead," Matt said, nodding to the door. "I'll wait here."

"No," Elisa said, waving him on. "Go ahead to the gym. I'll be there as soon as I can."

A few minutes later, Elisa came back out of the bathroom. While her pants weren't completely dry, they didn't look as if she'd wet her pants anymore, which was a vast improvement. They would be completely dry soon enough.

Elisa sighed left the bathroom.

The wet floor sign was in place, the puddle had been mopped up and the hallway was deserted.

With a shrug, Elisa went to join Matt.

-{- -{- -{- -{- -{- -{-

"I'll admit," Matt said an hour later as they were walking across the parking lot, "That was actually kind of fun."

"It was," Elisa said. "I can't believe how hard that was," she gave her arms a shake.

"Tell me about it," Matt rotated his own shoulders. "I can't believe we got talked into getting into the wheelchairs and joining in."

"But the kids loved it," Elisa pointed out. "Maybe we should do it again sometime."

"Not until I spend a little more time at the gym," Matt said with a grimace. "I need to start lifting some weights or something to keep up with those kids."

"You have fun with that," Elisa laughed. "Even if you had the will power to go to go to the gym daily…"

"Come on Maza," Matt interrupted. "You mean to tell me that you…"

The sound of their bantering was abruptly cut off as the car doors shut behind them.

Behind them, a lone figure watched, ears straining to catch even the slightest trace of the voice that he was sure would haunt his dreams.

He wanted to hear more.

Needed it.

The raven haired beauty that had appeared before him had caught his interest as no other had in quite some time. He saw her kindness in her interaction with the children at the hospital, and again when she volunteered to come here to this run down YMCA.

He knew that he would never find another like her.

She was a police officer, he knew. He'd caught a glimpse of her badge earlier at the hospital, and had remembered the badge number as well as the station number.

And now he had her full name.


	4. Chapter 4

Elisa and Matt responded to two attempted burglaries, one stolen vehicle report and a hit and run accident before the end of their shift.

The attempted burglaries were just that, thanks to a little help from their winged friends. The suspects were arrested on site, and with their scared ramblings about the "monsters", they were processed and would be held pending trial.

Together, Elisa and Matt slogged through the paperwork involved, and were finally finished with it all half an hour before they were officially off the clock.

"Done," Elisa said, leaning back in her ancient wooden office chair.

"Same," Matt said, closing the file folder with a snap.

"Jealous," Detective Travis said from a neighboring desk.

Elisa gave him a pitying look. "Still getting used to doing it all on your own?"

"Seriously, how do you two do it?" Travis asked, frustration etched clearly across his face.

"Years of practice," Elisa said. "Here," She held out a hand, "Give me one, and I'll help."

Matt's eyebrows rose. "You? Offering to help with paperwork?"

Elisa glared at him. "What?"

"Nothing," Matt said. "I just think that married life and motherhood have made you soft."

"Just for that," Elisa tossed the file folder on his desk. "You take this one." She reached for the last folder on Travis's desk.

Matt grumbled, but took the folder. He knew better than to argue with Elisa.

Between the three of them, they managed to knock out the remaining files.

"Thanks guys," Travis said with a sigh. "I owe you."

"Coffee," Elisa said. "You bring the coffee tomorrow."

"Deal," Travis said.

"With doughnuts," Matt tossed in.

"Doughnuts? Really?" Elisa said, sarcasm all but dripping from her words. "Way to live up to the stereotype."

"Excuse me," A shy voice broke into the conversation.

The three detectives turned to face the speaker. The voice belonged to a teenager, clad in jeans, polo shirt and an apron announcing he was from 'Best Buds'. In his hands, he carried a large bouquet of roses.

"Can we help you?" Matt asked.

"I have a delivery for a Miss Maza," He said. "The lady at the front desk said she was over here."

"I'm Maza," Elisa said, cautiously. "But I think there's some kind of mistake."

"No mistake, ma'am," The young man said, setting the large arrangement on her desk with a light thud. "I was told to deliver these to you here."

"Ooookay," Elisa said, slowly. "Thank you."

The kid nodded his head, then retreated quickly.

"Damn, Maza," Officer Hawkins called out from across the room. "Who'd you romance to get those?"

Elisa sent him a glare. She liked Hawkins, even found his teasingly lecherous behavior amusing most of the time. He was older than her father and spread it around to all the females, and so it was hard to take him seriously. To give him credit, if a female acted offended, he would back off, but since Elisa was one of those females who could dish it out as well as she could take it, he felt safe giving her static.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Elisa shot back.

A chorus of wolf whistles erupted, and Elisa ignored them.

Elisa did it to hide the fact that she had no idea who would have sent them. It's not as if Goliath could have. Her father would never send her something like this, not at work.

It wasn't even a special occasion that would call for flowers.

Gingerly, Elisa took the small envelope from the flower pick and extracted the card.

"Oh, for the love of…" Elisa bit off.

"What?" Matt asked.

Elisa showed him the card.

"It was lovely to see you again today," Matt read quietly, then looked at her over the card, "Love, J?"

"Jason," Elisa said with a huff, collapsing back into her chair. "It has to be."

"Hey," Travis said, "We're detectives. Let's do our thing."

Travis took the envelope and located the number of the florist. Picking up the telephone on her desk, he dialed the number.

After a short conversation that involved a lot of yes and no answers, Travis hung up the phone and frowned.

"Well," He said, "That was less than informative."

"What's the verdict?" Elisa asked.

"The shop received an envelope with a large amount of cash in it with instructions to deliver the arrangement here, to you, at this time. The card was pre-filled out, and so they have no idea who they're from."

"So, a large amount of cash, and a card signed with a J?" Matt asked.

"Jason," Elisa said, sounding tired, even to herself.

"What are you going to do with these?" Matt asked. "I am assuming that you're not going to take them home."

"No," She said firmly.

"Going to tell the Big Guy about them?" Matt asked.

"Oh, hell no," Elisa said firmly. "I'll deal with Jason myself later. Here," she nudged the vase his way, "Take them to Pamela with my blessing."

Matt grinned. "Sure. I'll run them down to her right now." He gathered it up.

"Have fun in the dungeon," Elisa called out to him, referring to the Forensics Labs downstairs where Matt's wife worked.

"But not too much," Travis called out with a grin. He turned to Elisa, "So, who's this Jason guy?"

"That is a long story," Elisa said. "One for another night." She gathered up her coat. "For now, I'm off the clock, and going home."

-{- -{- -{- -{- -{- -{-

Elisa felt a twinge of guilt, not telling Goliath about the flowers, but they had such a short time together now that the days were growing longer, and the nights were so short. She didn't want to spoil the little time they had together.

Besides, it could have just been meant as a friendly gesture, and she was reading too much into it. If that were the case, she'd feel bad for giving the obviously expensive arrangement away, but Jason had to know that she wouldn't keep flowers sent to her by someone other than her husband.

Elisa decided on the way home that she was going to ignore it. Not ignore, she corrected herself, but to not acknowledge it. Hopefully it was just a one-time thing, and whatever had prompted him to do such a thing as send that huge bouquet would never repeat.

So she said nothing about it, instead focusing on her husband and son for the rest of the night.

Once the sun rose, however, Elisa was forced to take another look at it when Tony, the security guard from downstairs called to let her know that there was a delivery for her.

With a sense of dread, Elisa left her son in the care of his nanny and rode the elevator down to the lobby.

There was another large bouquet of flowers. A mixed arrangement of flowers this time.

'Hoping to see you again soon,' the card read. Like the first one, it was signed with the letter J.

"Damn," Elisa muttered.

Tony looked surprised. "I take it that you weren't expecting these."

"No," Elisa said with a sigh. She looked at him. "Why don't you take these home with you and give them to your wife." Elisa tapped the card against the palm of her free hand. "Do me a favor, though, and let me know if anything else like this comes this way? Just hold everything here at the desk, and don't let anyone come up."

"That won't be a problem," Tony said, looking concerned. "Can I help with anything?"

Elisa waved his offer away. "No. Just keep an eye out for any other deliveries."

"Will do, Ms. Maza."

-{- -{- -{- -{- -{- -{-


	5. Chapter 5

Elisa called the floral shop listed on the envelope. It was a different one than the first, but had the same story.

Big envelope, filled with cash, pre-filled card and delivery instructions.

Elisa hung up the phone and felt drained. She looked at her wall clock, and grimaced. She'd already worked a full shift, and was tired. If she went to bed now, she could grab a couple of hours of sleep before going to have a talk with Jason.

When she got up, she found that there was a message from Tony. Three more deliveries had come, and he was holding them at the desk if she would like to come and take a look at them. He was going to go off shift soon, but he would alert

Elisa groaned.

This had to stop.

Wearily, Elisa got up and got dressed.

She would go down and check out the cards, but was certain they would all be alike.

It was time to talk to Jason.

-{- -{- -{- -{- -{- -{-

The next day, once Liam had gone to his pre-school for the afternoon classes, Elisa made her way to the hospital.

She found Jason working with a young girl between a set of parallel bars.

"Just a few more steps," he coaxed. "Get to the other end, and I'll get you a Snickers bar from the vending machine."

The girl grit her teeth, and moved her legs in a shuffling motion that made Elisa realize that she was having to re-learn how to walk.

Finally, painfully, the girl made it to the other end where she was caught by a physical therapist and helped back into a wheelchair. Clearly exhausted from the effort, the girl beamed at Jason. "I did it," She crowed.

"You did," Jason gave her a high five. "And every time from here on, it'll get easier."

"And I get a Snickers," She said. She held out her hand, "Gimmie."

Jason laughed, and produced the promised candy bar from the bag attached to the arm of his chair. "This is a one-time thing," He said sternly. "From here on, you're going to do it because you want to walk again, not because of bribery."

The girl just grinned at him. "Okay."

"Alright," The therapist said. "That's enough for one day, Cherry. Let's go back to your room and let you rest a bit before lunch."

Cherry didn't seem to mind now that she had the promised candy bar in hand.

Before Elisa could get his attention, a familiar voice called out. "Jason! Look!"

Jason wheeled over to where Chris, the boy from the first day was once more doing arm strengthening exercises.

Jason did some quick readjustments to how Chris was moving, and generally cheered him on.

It took a few minutes, but finally Chris looked up and spotted her.

"Hey, good lookin'," He called to her and winked. "I knew you couldn't stay away."

Elisa couldn't help herself. She laughed.

Jason turned and looked puzzled. "Elisa. I wasn't expecting you today."

"Yeah," Elisa said, shoving her hands into the pockets of her red coat. "About that."

"Oh, man…" Chris groaned. "Don't tell me that you guys are… you know… a thing?"

"Definitely not a thing," Elisa said.

"Pay no attention to young Don Juan, here," Jason said.

"I'm sorry to interrupt...again… but," Elisa motioned towards the doors, "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure," Jason said, following close behind her.

Elisa walked into the hallway and waited for the automatic doors to close.

Jason frowned, concerned, "Elisa, what..."

"Jason," Elisa plunged in, "I don't know if I gave you the wrong idea, the other day, but whatever you're doing has got to stop."

Jason froze in place, a blank expression on his face. "Elisa," He began slowly, "I honestly have no idea what you're talking about."

"The flowers," Elisa insisted. "The cards."

"I have not sent you anything," Jason said calmly. "I don't even know where you live."

It was Elisa's turn to pause. "Wait. How can you not know?"

Jason shrugged. "I arranged for my lawyer to handle everything. If I had no knowledge of where it was, I had plausible deniability on the off chance people questioned me about it."

Elisa took a deep breath. "You honestly don't know about the flowers?"

Jason shook his head. "No."

"Damn," She said, rubbing her hands over her face. "Now I'm embarrassed. I am so sorry."

"You have been getting unknown deliveries?" He asked, frowning at her. "What made you think they were from me?"

"They started the morning after Matt and I went to the YMCA." Elisa crossed her arms, and forced herself to start thinking clearly. "The first one came to the station."

"I'm sure that went over well," Jason said sarcastically. "Even I know better than to send a female officer flowers at a police station."

Elisa rolled her eyes. "It went about as well as you can imagine."

"You said that was the first?" Jason prodded. "There was a card?"

"Yeah," Elisa said. "Thankfully my building has some amazing security, and none of the delivery guys were allowed past the desk, but…"

"But someone has your building address," Jason concluded. "Do you have any of the cards with you?"

Elisa reached inside her coat to the inner pocket and withdrew the cards.

Jason took them and frowned. "Well, I can see why you thought these were from me," He read each note. He looked over the envelopes as well. "I assume that you've already called the flower shops."

"First thing," Elisa admitted. "The one that came to the station was from a 24 hour floral shop. Someone left an envelope with cash and instructions in an envelope, and taped it to their door. One of the employees spotted it around midnight and took it inside. They filled the order, but have no idea who sent it."

"Security footage?" He asked.

"None," Elisa said, frustration tinging her words. "Same with the others. All cash filled envelopes, all left at floral shops and no one has seen who's doing it."

Jason rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "What about other nearby businesses? Surely someone got security footage."

"I haven't gotten that far, yet," Elisa admitted. "I was so sure it was you because of the J signature. Sorry."

"No, I understand," He said derisively. "I didn't exactly leave you with the best impression before doing time in prison."

Elisa shook her head. "Now I guess I need to so some more detective work to figure this out."

Jason frowned at her. "Is there anything I can do to help?" He asked.

"No," Elisa said, shaking her head. "I'll look into it later tonight." She sighed, "For now, I think I need a little more sleep before I have to go to work tonight."

Jason nodded, handing her back the cards. "If I can be any help…"

"I'll let you know," Elisa said, replacing the cards in her coat pocket. "Sorry for jumping to conclusions."

"It's not a problem," Jason said, seriously. "For the record, though, if you weren't married, I might have."

"I'm going to pretend that you didn't say that," Elisa said with a smile, "But thanks."

"Well," He said, feeling a little at a loss for words. "For what it's worth, the kids really liked you and Matt playing basketball with them the other night. They've asked if you could both come again."

"We enjoyed it, too," Elisa said. "We'll try to make it again soon."

She gave him a little wave and turned to walk away back down the hallway.

Jason frowned at her retreating back. She may not want the help, but he was going to do his best to help her out.

He returned to the Therapy room, and resumed working with Chris.

"Aww, man," He said, disappointed. "I was hoping you'd bring that fox back in."

"Leave her alone, man," Jason said in mock anger. "She's too old for you."

"Age aint nothin' but a number," Chris said with a grin.

"She's seeing someone," Jason said, hoping that would stop the young man's banter. While it had started off amusing, just this moment, it was grating on him.

Chris's face fell. "Man… Is it you?"

"Back on the hand bikes," Jason said, not answering him while trying to get Chris back on track.

He retrieved the single floral card that he'd managed to palm from the stack that she'd handed him, and stared at it. He recognized the name of the shop. It wasn't far from the hospital.

Maybe he'd run by there after work and see what was going on.


	6. Chapter 6

It was close to 5:00 when Jason got off of work.

Navigating city streets in a wheelchair wasn't easy on the best of days. After hours of working with the kids on their physical therapy exercises, and getting off of work at the beginning of the rush hour when most businesses in the area also ended their days made for a long and crowded trek.

The flower shop that the card he'd held back from Elisa's stack was only a few blocks from the hospital, so taking a bus seemed like a waste of time, considering how long it took to get his chair on and off. Same with a taxi.

He had long ago accepted that he would be in the wheelchair for the rest of his life, but sometimes having to deal with the day to day challenges were frustrating. The trip that would have taken him maybe ten minutes when he had use of his legs took almost half an hour because of crosswalks and the general crush of people.

After he had gotten there, he had the same amount of luck that Elisa had.

At some point, an envelope of cash had been slid under the door with clear instructions on what they wanted and where it needed to go.

It had happened in the past, the employee at the counter told him. Someone goofs up and forgets a birthday, or get in a fight with their girlfriend, so they slip instructions through the gap under the back door.

No surveillance footage of the back door, either.

Frustrated, Jason left the shop, and flagged down a taxi to get home. He just didn't have it in him to navigate the crowded sidewalks again today.

Thoughtful, he tried using his Hunter training to think about what he could do next to help.

He hoped it went away on his own, but just in case…

-{- -{- -{- -{- -{- -{-

Once home, Jason booted up his laptop.

He stared at the screen for a few minutes, trying to work through where to start.

Decision made, his fingers flew over the keys as he did a search for floral shops near the hospital. Once those were up, he spread out the search to between the hospital and the 23rd precinct station house.

The number was incredible. If he were to call them all, it was going to take him a good chunk of time. Glancing at the clock, he realized that there was a good chance that some of these shops were already closed for the day.

Jason ran both hands down his face in frustration.

Honestly, he didn't know why he felt this strong of a compulsion to help Elisa. Sure, he'd fancied the thought of them in a relationship once upon a time, but after seeing her depth of caring and devotion to Goliath and the clan, he knew that wasn't an option.

So… if it wasn't a romantic relationship, why this need to get involved?

Because, he realized, she'd been willing to put her career on the line to help both him and Robyn after their arrests. She'd met with him after the whole St Damien's Cathedral mess, when he'd been laid up in the hospital and feeling useless with his paralysis and tried to help him with advice and offers to help with the legalities. Hell, she'd even offered to be in the courtroom with them.

He still wasn't sure why she'd been so willing to help. They had, after all, attempted to kill off her friends. Her clan.

As a Scot, he understood the meaning of being part of a clan.

In the end, both Jason and Robyn had chosen to not accept her assistance, taking their incarceration and moving on with their lives. He'd been out for a few months, and Robyn was due for her parole hearing in six months.

Jon… well, honestly, he had no idea where his brother even was. He knew wherever it was, it wasn't in New York. For his own safety, after the kidnap, assault and attempted murder of NYPD detective Elisa Maza, he was trasported to a Maximum Security facility out of state.

While it made him sad, thinking about his little brother and the harshness of his sentencing, he couldn't condone his actions. Even as Hunters, it was understood that humans were off limits. The Hunt was reserved for the Demon.

Jon had his mind turned in the wrong direction, made his own decisions and was paying for his crimes.

As for Jason and Robyn, it could have been a whole lot worse. If Elisa hadn't convinced him that the "family tradition" of hunting was so misguided and wrong, chances are that they would have kept on going until one or all of the Canmore kids were dead in the pursuit.

Just like their father.

Jason shook his head roughly.

Whatever the reasons, he needed to help Elisa. Maybe he didn't need to define his reasons and just do what felt right.

Once again, Jason began working on his laptop. Using his honed hacking skills that he'd cultivated through his years as a Hunter, he expertly navigated the internal directories of the 23rd Precint's station. Once he found what he was looking for, he opened a new window and opened his email and composed a message.

**To: mbluestone **

**From: jmcwheels **

**Re: A mutual friend**

**Detective Bluestone,**

**I realize that I may be the last person that you would expect to be writing to you. However, after speaking with Detective Maza, I believe that she may be in deeper trouble than she knows.**

**As her partner, I know that you are probably aware of the events surrounding her current problems. **

**If I am able to be any help, please let me know.**

After signing it with his name, he hit the "send" button before he could second guess himself.

Now, all he could do was sit back and see if Matt contacted him.


	7. Chapter 7

Two more deliveries had shown up at her building while Elisa had been out.

Two more cards. Without reading the messages, she looked down and spotted the now familiar "J" on the bottom.

Elisa shook her head. At this rate, the lobby was going to be full of flowers by the end of the day.

"Ms Maza," Marco, the Jade Building's day security guard called out as she took the cards and left the flowers. "What would you like us to do with these?"

Elisa looked angrily at the flowers. "Take what you want, and find a nice place to donate the rest."

"Gotcha," Marco said. "Are you expecting any more deliveries?"

"I wasn't expecting the first one," Elisa snapped, then stopped. She closed her eyes and took a calming breath, "Sorry, Marco. I'm tired and frustrated. I didn't mean to take it out on you."

He waved her apology away. "No need to worry about me," He said with a grin. "I figured something was going on." He frowned. "Tony told me to hold the deliveries here at the desk. Would you like me to call you if any more come up?"

Elisa thought about it a moment. "I was going to try to grab a few more hours of sleep before work, so don't call me unless something other than flowers show up. I'll come down and check on it all when I get up."

Elisa tapped the two floral envelopes against her palm as she made her way to the elevator. She rode it to the top, then made her way through the still quiet house to bed. She got into her favorite pajamas, needing the familiar comfort, set her alarm and laid down.

She was sure that she wouldn't get any sleep…

She was out like a light a moment later.

-{- -{- -{- -{- -{- -{-

Elisa woke to her alarm, smiling at the sound of her son's laughter from the living room.

She hurriedly got dressed, and went downstairs to join the human side of her family for breakfast.

The sun wasn't quite ready to set just yet when Elisa had to leave for work. She kissed Liam on her way out the door and told him that she'd be home later. Waving goodbye to Skyler, she entered the elevator. There were no new flowers, no new notes, waiting for her at the desk. The lobby had been cleared of the flowers, as well, only leaving the lingering floral smell behind.

Tony greeted her as she passed through the lobby to the attached resident parking structure.

She waved at him, and continued through to her car.

-{- -{- -{- -{- -{- -{-

Matt got to work a little over ten minutes early, so decided to take the opportunity to check his email and see if there were any pending cases that he could be working on.

When he saw the email about "A mutual friend", he almost didn't read it.

First of all, this was the internal NYPD email system. The email addresses for the internal purposes were just that. To his knowledge, they weren't even listed anywhere, so receiving an email from a civilian email address was odd.

Initially, he skipped over it, choosing to focus on the nightly hot sheets, assignments and meeting notes from the morning stand ups.

Once those tasks were completed, he returned to the civvie email and hovered his cursor over the "delete" option.

Instead, he chose to open it to see what was going on.

He read Jason's email twice, and it still didn't make sense to him.

He was here with Elisa last night when those flowers had come in, and had seen Elisa's reaction to the card it had held. She had been so certain that it was Jason, and Matt had almost pitied Jason when Elisa decided to confront Jason.

Evidently, she had done that, all right, but something wasn't right.

Why was Jason reaching out to him about something being wrong with Elisa? Matt had met with Jason a few times, and couldn't really picture Jason as a crazy flower sending stalker…

But something wasn't sitting right with Matt.

"Hey," Elisa said, pulling her desk chair out so that she could log in to her own computer to do the safe things that Matt had just finished. "Anything good?"

Matt hurried to close his email.

Elisa looked a little rough, in an "I didn't get enough sleep" kind of way. He knew that at a certain point of being tired, Elisa's stubbornness actually got worse, which meant that she would clam up and not talk about... well… anything.

Still, that email from Jason wasn't sitting well.

Matt would probably need to buy her one of her favorite overpriced coffee drinks to wake her up enough to talk about… whatever was going on.

He was just opening his mouth to suggest just that, when his desk phone rang.

He and Elisa were being called out to assist in a hit and run incident. No injuries, but a truck had side-swiped an entire block long's worth of cars.

"Elisa," Matt said, getting to his feet, "Looks like it's going to be a busy one if we're getting called out already."

"Just my kind of night," Elisa said, seeming to really mean that.


	8. Chapter 8

A little after 11 p.m., Matt and Elisa finally got back to the station. From the moment they'd gotten to work, it had been a steady night, not leaving Elisa much time between calls to even think about the cards still riding around in her pocket.

It couldn't last, however.

Just before the end of shift, there was another delivery.

This floral arrangement was bigger than the one before, a mixture of wildflowers that almost completely hid the delivery girl who was struggling to carry it.

Elisa watched, resigned, as the arrangement hit the desk with a solid thudding sound.

Without a word, she nodded a thanks to the delivery girl and took the envelope from the holder.

Comically, Matt peeked around one side of the arrangement and Travis on the other.

Elisa glared at them, daring them to say anything.

The envelope was bright red, and larger than the floral cards. This one looked like it might have been store bought.

Elisa pried the flap open, and withdrew the card.

Frowning, she examined it. The front was a typical drug store card, decorated with hearts and flowers. The front simply said, "For Someone Special" in a fancy printed calligraphy script across the front. On the inside was a poem, the kind of sickly sweet pre-made dribble that you'd find in a dozen other cards in just as many different stores.

It was the handwritten message that gave her the chills.

'I know that you have been seeing someone. He doesn't deserve you. I will treat you better than they ever could.'

The handwriting was bold, the letters bigger and the pen had been pressed into the card stock hard enough to leave actual indentations of the letters on the back. Despite the cheerfulness of the card, the message was one written in anger.

Once again, it was signed with a J.

Matt was watching her face. "I'm going to make a guess and say that this is not a good thing."

"No, it's not," Elisa said, and handed him the card.

Matt read it over and frowned. "It sounds like they think you're dating someone."

"So they don't know you're married," Travis said. "If it escalated to this, when they think you're only dating someone, what happens when they find out that you're married?"

"That's the question, isn't it?" Elisa asked.

"Have you received more that this?" Matt asked.

"You guys saw the first delivery," Elisa said, her voice calm. "After that, they started showing up at my building. Including this one, there have been eight total."

"All with cards?" Travis asked.

"Yes, but this is the first store bought one." Elisa pulled out the small stack of cards and envelopes from the various florists. "The rest were those small ones that you get for free at florists."

"Have you reported this?" Matt asked.

Elisa shook her head. "I was so sure it was Jason that I didn't bother. I spoke to him today, and he knew nothing about it."

"You're sure it's not him?" Travis asked.

"I'm sure," Elisa said firmly.

"Okay, then," Matt said, handing her back the cards. "How do you want to handle this?"

"I guess I take it to Captain Chavez," Elisa said. "If it were just at my building, that's one thing, but whoever is doing this knows where I work, and I do not need this to carry over here."

"Better here than at your home," Matt pointed out.

"That's another thing," Elisa said. "Whoever is doing this knows my name, and my building address, but not my Condo designation. The deliveries are only addressed to the building itself."

"Someone could have followed you home," Travis said. "Gotten the street address that way."

"That's probably it," Elisa said, spreading the cards out. "But the cards all say things about seeing me. I need to make a timeline of where all I've been and start there."

"Let's do it," Matt said, rolling his desk chair to the side of her desk. "Have a seat, and let's go over it all."

Travis came up to the other side of the desk, and the three of them put their heads together.

Elisa mentally went over the past week, starting five days before the first delivery.

"You know," Matt said slowly, "I never really thought about how the fact that you're pretty much a homebody when you're not at work. This is going to help narrow things down a lot."

Elisa rolled her eyes. "Glad to know that my being a social recluse is going to make your job easier."

"Seriously," Travis frowned at her. "Don't you ever go out for fun?"

Elisa sent him a look that had him snapping his mouth shut. He mimed locking his lips and throwing the key away.

"So," Matt said. "With this information, still want to take it to the captain?"

"Not officially," Elisa said. "But I'm going to let her in on what's going on." She got to her feet, and picked up the obscenely large floral piece. "I'll take her these to butter her up."

"Yeah," Matt chuckled. "Good luck with that."

Matt frowned at Elisa's retreating back. He was going with his gut on this one.

He hurried to open his email once more, then hurried to type out a reply.

To: jmcwheels

From: mbluestone

RE: RE: A mutual friend

Mr Canmore,

Thank you for contacting me regarding our mutual friend. Detective Maza has just apprised me of the situation, and we will be taking every precaution.

As a civilian, I am unable to share information with you that pertains to an open investigation. However if you come across any information that could potentially assist us in this situation, please do not hesitate to reach out to me again.

Thank you,

Matthew Bluestone

NYPD 23rd Precinct

Matt shot off the reply before Elisa could return.

Was it sneaky? Yes.

Did he feel dirty? A little.

But it was for the welfare of his partner. His friend.

-{- -{- -{- -{- -{- -{-

"This started two days ago?" Maria Chavez, police chief and the Maza children's godmother, gazed across her desk at Elisa.

"I think it's technically three days, now," Elisa said looking at the clock.

It was after midnight.

"And you didn't tell someone right away, because…"

"I thought I knew who it was, and could handle it myself," Elisa said. "Turns out, it's not who I thought it was."

Maria leaned back in her desk, and looked the cards over once more. "We can try to get prints off of here, but we'd have to get comparison prints from anyone who has handled these."

"Including the flower shop employees," Elisa nodded. "But the floral shops are also open to the public, so who knows who all has touched these."

"Exactly," Maria said. "I assume that you have already been trying to retrace your steps?"

"Matt and Travis has already helped me run through that," Elisa said.

"So far," Maria said, sadly, "Sending flowers isn't a crime. This one," Maria held up the most recent card, "Could be taken as a threat, but it's so subtle that I doubt we could get a judge to sign off on any warrants."

Elisa nodded. "I agree. I just wanted to let you know what's going on."

"Thanks for letting me in the loop on this one," Maria said. "Let me know if this escalates any further."

"I'm going to start handling things different from here on as well," Elisa said. "Gloves, bags and all that."

Maria nodded. "You call me if you get any more of these," she said firmly. "Even if the cards aren't overtly threatening."

"You'll be the first to hear about it," Elisa promised.

"And make sure that you tell the husband of yours," Maria said.

"He's next on my list," Elisa promised.

"If you have the time, I'd advise talking to him now," Maria said. "He shouldn't be kept out of this any longer, just in case."

"I'm heading that way now." Elisa told her as she shut the office door behind her. She walked over to the guys. "Matt, let's go," she said, grabbing her coat off the back of her chair.

"Uh," He hurried to his feet, "Sure."


	9. Chapter 9

Together, the two of them made their way to the castle.

"Thanks for coming along, Matt," Elisa said as they entered the express elevator to the upper levels.

"Hey, no problem," Matt said with a shrug. "You'd do the same for me."

"Yeah, well," Elisa said, brushing her hair over her shoulder, "Don't tell anyone."

"They'd never believe me," Matt muttered.

The elevator's alert sounded, signaling their arrival and the two of them exited near the Great Hall.

"I called ahead," Elisa said. "They'll be in the Hall, waiting."

They entered the hall, and were greeted by seven gargoyles and one human.

The human, Skyler, a combination of nanny and housekeeper for Elisa and her family, was also dating Brooklyn. It had been decided quite a while ago, that anything affecting the clan also involved Skyler.

Especially after it was found that she had retained a good amount of magic from her mysterious parentage. Having another ally to the clan around who was also a magic user was a gift in more ways than one.

"Hey guys," Elisa greeted. "How did your night go?"

"Broke up a mugging," Lexington said.

"We helped a few officers catch some kids who were out for a joy ride," Broadway said, motioning to include Angela.

"So...Same stuff, different night," Brooklyn said with a shrug.

Skyler playfully bumped his shoulder.

"So what's up, Elisa?" Broadway asked.

Elisa bit the corner of her lip, trying desperately to figure out just where to start.

Matt watched her struggle for a minute before taking the reins.

"Sit down," He whispered to Elisa and nudging her toward a chair.

Elisa gave him a look, but sat down.

"Ok, guys." Matt began. "I'm going to let you in on a few recent developments." Without mentioning exactly who he was talking about, referring only to a "friend", he laid out the facts. The deliveries, the cards, the appearance of the flowers at both work and home.

Angela was frowning. "How awful," she said. "How can we help her?"

"Glad you asked," Matt said, "First, we would need someone to keep an extra eye out for her, just in case this situation gets serious."

"But it might not," Elisa put in. "It could just be a guy with a crush that has gotten out of hand."

"Yeah, and we have both seen possible results of that," Matt challenged.

Elisa ran her hands through her hair in agitation. "Yeah."

Goliath glanced at his wife. Something was not right, and he had a bad feeling about what it was. "Who is your friend?" Golaith asked Matt.

"Uh," Matt stuttered.

"It's me," Elisa blurted out.

Almost simultaneously, the group turned to look at her.

Elisa rubbed a hand across her forehead. "It has been a long day, guys."

Goliath growled deep in his chest as he brought his arm out to bring her securely to his side. "Why did you not tell me?" He asked her softly.

"Because before you went to sleep for the day, there had only been one delivery," Elisa said, tired. "It seemed innocent enough, and I thought I knew who it was from."

"Who?" Goliath asked.

"Jason," Elisa admitted, feeling the involuntary jerk of his arm. She reached a hand up and patted the arm. "He got out a while ago, and reached out. I know your feelings towards the Hunters, believe me. But Jason is not his siblings. He's not Jon."

Goliath's eyes briefly luminesced at the mention of Jon. The youngest of the Hunter siblings, Jon had been responsible for the origins of the anti-gargoyle group, The Quarrymen. He had also attacked the clan a few times, and had managed to capture, kidnap and hold Elisa as ammunition against the clan. The final time had resulted in Elisa being injured and separated from everyone for almost six months with a gunshot wound and amnesia.

Goliath had been listening to Elisa through the communicator when she'd been shot, and even though it had been over seven years, he would never forget the sound. Nor would he forget the months of hell that had followed.

The thought of her having anything to do with the Hunters again did not sit well with him.

"I know, big Guy," Elisa said quietly. She turned under his arm, and wound her arms around his chest, though whether it was for his comfort or hers, she didn't know.

"What can we do?" Goliath asked. "I will not have Elisa in danger."

Matt nodded. "I knew that you would feel that way. In truth, we don't know that this will become something bigger than it is."

"But it could," Skyler pointed out.

"Yes, it could," Elisa finally admitted.

"Captain Chavez is aware of the situation," Matt assured them. "There is 24 hour security at Elisa's building, and it has been made known that there are no deliveries to be made to her door. Everything is being stopped at the front desk."

"We're going back through the last week," Elisa said, "And trying to figure out where I could have run into someone like this." Elisa took a step back from Goliath so that she could pace and think. "The first flowers came with a note that said it was good to see me _**again**_." Elisa was in her element now, and was talking her way through everything in a way that she hadn't been able to before. She chalked it up to being amongst her friends and family. "That means that I met them sometime before Monday, but not more than a week before that."

"Why not more than a week?" Skyler asked, watching Elisa in detective mode with fascination.

"Because this took some planning," Elisa said, "But not so much that it would take more than a week." She sent Skyler a look, "Please tell me that made sense."

"I think so," Skyler said softly. "Arranging for flower deliveries, filling out cards, finding out where to deliver them… that all takes time, but not a long time of planning."

"Thank you," Elisa said with a sigh.

"You're learning to speak Elisa," Matt said, impressed. "It took me a while."

"Thanks!" Skyler said with a grin.

"Okay, guys," Brooklyn said. "Let's get back on track here."

"In all honesty," Matt said, "It might have already started escalating."

"What do you mean?" Goliath asked in that slow, careful way of his that hinted that his patience was about at its end.

"Hold on there, Big Guy," Elisa urged. "We're almost done." Elisa stopped her pacing. "You all know how I have started wearing my wedding ring around my neck?" She waited for the others to register that. "I think that whoever this is, initially believed that I was single. Somehow," Elisa said slowly, "This person came to the conclusion that I was dating someone, and it seemed to…" Elisa looked at Matt for help.

"It made him angry," Matt said. "He sounded angry."

"That's as good a word as any," Elisa said. She reached in her pocket and finally withdrew the notes. "You can see it here." She laid out the notes.

"This is the first one, here," Elisa pointed to it. She continued down the timeline, but stopped. "I'm missing one," She searched the pocket again, but came up empty. Frustrated when she couldn't find it, she threw her hands up in frustration. "It was just more of the same. Then, tonight, I got this one," She picked up the larger card.

A silence fell over the group as they took in the entirety of the situation.

"Soooo," Brooklyn said, looking to the two detectives. "You guys have a plan, right?"

"Travis and I talked about it," Matt said, ignoring Elisa's sharp look, "And we think we have an idea…"

-{- -{- -{- -{- -{- -{-

"No." Elisa said harshly.

"Elisa," Matt groaned.

"No," Elisa said again. "Not only no, but hell no."

Matt sighed. "I knew you were going to hate the idea, which is why I didn't tell you sooner."

"I can go undercover," Elisa insisted. "I can work any sting operation you give me, but I will not spend days or weeks away from my son. Let alone my nights away from my husband and the rest of the clan. And getting a fake 'boyfriend'," Elisa made the air quotes with her fingers, "To hang around at night."

"We could ask Jason," Matt said, and flinched at the heated gazes from both Elisa and Goliath. "Or not."

"It's not a bad idea," Skyler said slowly, but hurried to add, "Not the Jason thing, I swear. This person knows you work overnights, so you going nowhere during the day won't be out of the ordinary. If things get too intense, I can always bring Liam here and we can stay at the castle. But at night, maybe we could find one of your fellow undercover detectives willing to play the part until we find out who's doing this."

"This isn't an official investigation," Elisa pointed out. "If we go that route, whoever did it would have to be doing it out of the kindness of their heart." Looking at the blank faces around her she clarified. "They wouldn't be getting paid for it."

"Oh," Skyler said. "Yeah, that won't work."

Goliath growled softly. "But it would keep you safe," he ran a hand through her hair. "I do not want you in danger again when I can not be with you."

Elisa put her hands behind her neck and rolled her head from side to side in an effort to loosen the muscles there.

"We'll figure it out. It's not like it has to happen right this minute." She said.

"In the meantime, there's one thing you need to do," Matt said softly.

Elisa blinked at him for a moment. "Crap," she said. "My ring."

"We can't let this get out of hand before we're ready," Matt pointed out. "Just in case."

Elisa groaned. "You're right. I know you're right." Elisa reached behind her neck and undid the clasp of the chain holding her wedding ring. She reconnected the chain, held it in her hand for a moment, then she reluctantly handed it to Goliath. "Keep this safe for me," She asked softly.

"I will," Goliath said, tucking it into the side pouch on his belt.

"This still might resolve itself somehow," Elisa said. "All this may not even be needed."

"If nothing happens tomorrow," Matt suggested, "We'll revisit this. For tonight, though, we'll finish our shift like normal."

"Alright," Elisa said with a sigh. "Goliath, I…"

"I know," He said, lowering his face to hers. He touched his cheek to hers, and whispered, "But if this will keep you safe, I must insist. I almost lost you once. I can not lose you again." He raised his face and gazed in her eyes. "I would not survive that."

Elisa gave him a watery smile, "I love you, Big Guy."

"As I love you," He said. He touched his brow ridge to her forehead and rested there for just a moment. He finally raised his head again. "Now go. We will be nearby, should you need us."


	10. Chapter 10

"Gods," Elisa said once in the car. She ran a hand where her ring normally hung. "I am going to have to get something to wear around my neck, or I'm going to forget and panic."

"That'll be easy enough," Matt said. "Hopefully, it's just for tonight."

"Maybe if he thinks I'm dating someone, he'll change his mind about me." Elisa said hopefully. "And if not… Then I'm bait, I guess."

"Let's go back to the station, and see if we can't find something to occupy your mind," Matt said.

"What I wouldn't give for a robbery, a mugging, a high speed chase… Literally anything, right now." With that, she turned the key in the ignition and pulled out onto the street.

They were almost back to the station when there was a call.

"All available units in the area of 47th Street," came the scratchy radio came to life. "We have reports of a break in with property damage."

Elisa glanced at the nearest street sign. "We're on 49th," Elisa said.

"Let's go," Matt said, and with a healthy dose of self-preservation, he put one hand on the dash and one above the door as a brace. He knew what was coming.

Elisa flipped the switch that activated her dash bubble light. With a jerk, she managed a full U-turn on the street.

-{- -{- -{- -{- -{- -{-

They pulled up with a surprise outside of the same YMCA that they'd been at only days earlier. This time, the exterior was lit by the flashing red and blue lights of the responding officers.

"I thought this address sounded familiar," Elisa said, unlocking her seatbelt.

"Wonder what happened?" Matt said.

Elisa shrugged. "Let's go find out."

They walked to the door where a single officer was standing sentry.

They held up their badges and identified themselves.

"You guys got here fast," The officer said with a grin. "Maza drove, huh?"

Elisa squinted at him in the darkness. "Jesus, Graciello. I didn't recognize you without the beard."

Graciello reached up to rub a hand against his recently bared face. "Yeah, well…"

"Lose a bet?" Matt asked.

Graciello sighed. "I just felt like it was time for a change, okay?"

"Hey," Elisa held her hands up, "No judgement here. I think it's a nice change."

He perked up. "Really?"

"Yeah," Elisa said with a grin. "Who knew there was such a baby face hidden under there?"

He groaned.

"So, what are we looking at," Elisa switched back into her detective mode.

Graciello jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "Probably just some kids having some fun. The door behind me has a pane of glass broken out, but as far as we can tell nothing else was broken or taken. One of the YMCA employees lives near here and they made it over almost before we did, to open it up for us to check out. So far," He shrugged, "Nada."

"Mind if we check it out?" Matt asked.

"Go ahead," Graciello said.

"Thanks," Matt said, and together, he and Elisa entered the empty halls of the YMCA.

Only half of the lights had been turned on, giving the whole building an eerie feeling. Their shoes squeaked slightly on what appeared to be a freshly waxed floor.

They found the other officers at the end of the hallway, where the administrative offices were located.

There was someone in a YMCA uniform, their back to the door, talking on the phone to someone and relating the details of what was happening.

"No, ma'am, it's just the door glass," He was saying. "I think I can block it off until morning…"

"Well, if it isn't the flower girl," Officer Hawkins' voice called out from where he leaned against the wall opposite the doors. "How many guys you got on the hook now?"

Elisa glared at him.

The employee looked up at the raised voices, and it was with some surprise that Elisa recognized that it was the same employee who had helped her to her feet the other night after she'd oh-so-gracefully landed in that puddle.

She nodded her recognition before walking over to Hawkins before he started yelling more. Everyone at their station knew that she was married, but getting random flower deliveries out of the blue seemed to have divided the station on if she really did have a side boyfriend.

Not bloody likely.

"Uh, oh," Matt said, stalking beside her. "Keep it cool, Elisa."

"I'm trying," Elisa said, mentally patting herself on the back since she actually sounded calm.

Elisa had cooled down by the time she's actually reached his side. They compared notes on what they had found as the first officers on scene, and after a brief conversation it was decided that Elisa and Matt could leave, since it was pretty cut and dried.

"Alright," Elisa said with a sigh. "Looks like this one's a bust."

"Hey," Matt said with mock seriousness. He slung his arm playfully across her shoulders. "We'll get 'em next time."

Elisa laughed as they made their way outside.

-{- -{- -{- -{- -{- -{-

The rest of the night dragged on with a painful slowness.

They had a few minor calls for assistance after that. First, they'd interviewed a few witnesses for a multiple car pileup that had happened on their side of the Bridge. They were still there when a victim of a hit and run came in, so they signed in for that one as well. Then investigated, much to Elisa's discomfort, a break in at a florist shop. There were calls of suspicious people in Central Park, and a few muggings.

After that, there wasn't much else.

With every minute that passed without them getting a call out, Elisa felt her nervousness build.

They were all making too much out of it, she was sure.

Or so she told herself.

She had almost convinced herself of that when the flowers came the next morning.

Elisa saw the delivery person heading her way, and she collapsed in her chair. She put her elbows on the desk's top, head in hands. She didn't want to look. She couldn't.

"I'll take those," She heard Matt say.

Elisa let her hands fall to the desk and looked at Matt. He had taken the flowers to his desk before patting his pockets. Out of one pocket, he pulled an evidence bag, but came up empty in the others.

"Damn," He said softly. "I thought I had some…"

"There's the flower girl, again," Hawkins called.

"Hawkins," Matt snapped. "Got any gloves?"

"Sure," He said, coming their direction. He sent a hesitant look at Elisa before passing Matt the gloves. "What do you need these for?"

Matt efficiently got the latex crime scene gloves on with a decisive snap. He took the card carefully, handling it by the corner. He slipped the card in the bag.

"What's going on?" Hawkins asked, any teasing gone.

"Someone seems to have fixated on Elisa at some point," Matt said. "The last few days, she's been getting these here and more at her home."

"Sorry Maza," He said. "Any ideas who it is?"

"None," Elisa said miserably.

"What can I do?" Hawkins asked. At Elisa's incredulous look, he glared back. "I may flirt a lot, and give you ladies a hard time, but you're about the age of my daughter and I wouldn't want people to ignore it if something like this happened to her."

"Thanks," Elisa said. She sighed, got to her feet and held her hand out for the evidence bag. "Next stop, the Captain's Office."


	11. Chapter 11

"Alright," Captain Chavez said, opening the bag with her own gloved hands. "Let's take a look at this."

Carefully, she pried the glued flap of the envelope open.

The card, another generic drug store card, had a watercolor picture of a flower filled meadow with a giant gaudy butterfly on it. The inside didn't have any of the usual computer generated wording. This one was filled with a rambling rant about Elisa's "boyfriend" and how he had the nerve to "manhandle" her like that. Again, making references on how much better he would treat her.

"Manhandle me?" Elisa repeated angrily. "I don't know what the hell this guy is talking about. Between the last delivery and this one, the only guy I've been around has been...Matt."

Elisa swung around to look at Matt. "Where all have we been tonight?"

Matt grabbed a notebook out of his shirt pocket and began writing down the locations. "Going backwards, we have been to Central Park, that Florist shop on 106th, then we were at Manhattan General, talking to those accident victims. There was vandalism at the YMCA, and the massive hit and run with major damage which was the first one we responded to."

"So," Maria said thoughtfully, "Not really narrowing things down."

"Unfortunately not," Matt said.

"Do any of those places coincide with anything you came up with retracing your steps over the last week?" Maria asked.

"The hospital, YMCA, Central Park," Elisa said. "I took Liam out to play in Central Park on my day off, I met with Jason at the hospital for lunch, and then we went to the Y to play basketball with a group of kids."

"So, it could still be anyone." Matt concluded.

"There is still no overt threats happening here," Maria pointed out. "So we need to be smart, but we still don't have anything concrete to actually make a case for."

"I know," Elisa said. "He's smart."

"He's also sounding like he's unraveling a little," Maria pointed out. "When you're here, you have Matt and the protection of the other officers. What are your plans for before work, after work and daytimes?"

"We haven't gotten that far yet," Elisa admitted. "I was still hoping that this would disappear on its own, so the topic hadn't even come up until tonight."

"Well, now's the time to start making plans," Maria said. "You two are desk bound for the rest of the night until you come up with something we can do."

"On it," Matt assured the Captain.

Matt and Elisa were putting their heads together when Hawkins came over and pulled up a chair. He didn't speak right away, but nodded or shook his head with the ideas they were coming up with. One by one, officers of every age, every gender started gathering around the desks to find out what was going on or add their two cents.

"Why do I feel like I'm going to be basically on house arrest?" Elisa complained.

"Get used to it," Hawkins said. "At least until we find this ass."

"So, I go nowhere during the day," Elisa agreed. "That's not hard, since I have to sleep and I have Skyler to go out if I need anything."

"To and from work we can handle," Matt said. "I can meet you in your lobby, and ride to and from with you."

"That's ridiculous," Elisa said. "It's a good 45 minute drive for you. In traffic. In the opposite direction of work."

"Then we'll have someone in an unmarked follow you to and from," Hawkins said.

Elisa watched as everyone around the room were nodding in agreement.

Elisa rubbed both hands over her face in agitation, knowing that this was how things were going to go until the suspect was caught. "Alright, I'll call the station if I need an escort."

"Fair enough," Hawkins nodded. "And we'll all pass the word along between us all, so we're prepared if you do call."

"Thanks guys," Elisa said.

"Is your husband out of town on business again? What does he think of all this?" Hawkins asked.

"He's not pleased," Elisa admitted. "Especially when we were tossing the idea of having another officer pose as my boyfriend." Elisa caught Matt's look, "Okay, okay. We were both uncomfortable with that one."

"It might come down to that," Matt pointed out.

"I know," Elisa said. "But I'm going to hold off on that for as long as possible." Elisa looked pointedly at her watch. "Speaking of my husband, I guess I'd better give him a call, and let him know what's happened tonight."

Elisa got up and further into the building as if she was looking for some privacy to make a phone call. It was still two hours before sunrise, so Elisa was taking a chance, and walked upstairs, and into what remained of the original station house. The stone steps were still there, behind a long neglected wooden door, but where it had once led up into the clock tower it now was just an access door to the now bare flat roof.

Elisa took a chance, and went up there now. She pushed the door open, and shut it quietly behind her. Turning, she only saw the massive dark forms of the air conditioning and heating units, but that didn't mean that she was alone there.

"Hey, guys?" Elisa called. Three shadows peeled off from the dark and took familiar shapes.

"Hey Elisa," Broadway said.

"We saw the flowers get delivered." Angela admitted.

"Yes," Goliath said softly. "It does not seem to have stopped."

"No," Elisa admitted, and told them of the newest card.

"So you may have seen this guy again tonight?" Broadway asked.

"That's the theory that we're working on," Elisa said. "But I've been to some very public places tonight. We can't narrow things down from there. Evidently," Elisa added, "Whoever this is thinks that _Matt_ is the guy I'm 'dating'."

Goliath growled.

"I know, Goliath. This has gotten out of hand," Elisa said softly.

"What are you going to do, Elisa?" Angela asked anxiously.

"We are going to try to get an undercover guy to come in, and make some appearances, and hopefully it will either flush this guy out or it'll stop."

"Who?" Goliath asked roughly.

"I don't know yet," Elisa admitted. "But we need to get the focus off of Matt, so he can still do his job and help keep an eye out. If Matt is not considered a threat to whoever is doing this, then he's back under the radar. In the meantime, we have a plan for the times you guys can't be there."

Elisa gave them a rundown of the plans to get to and from work.

"On the clock I will always have someone with me." She concluded.

"I do not like this," Goliath growled.

"I don't either," Elisa said. "I am not comfortable pretending to care for someone else, but it's the best we can think of right now."

The three Gargoyles nodded slowly.

"Daylight is coming guys," Elisa pointed out. "You'd better get back."

After they took to the air, Elisa stayed on the roof for a few extra minutes. She'd been undercover many times. She had to shove the discomfort away, and think of this as a job.

It was just the job.

-{- -{- -{- -{- -{- -{-

Once home for the day, she called the castle and spoke to Fox.

"Wow," she said slowly. "You really attract some interesting situations."

"Tell me about it," Elisa said with a sigh. "I hate to ask, but…"

"You want Skyler and Liam to stay at the castle," Fox said.

"You know," Elisa said with a frown, "It's creepy how you do that sometimes."

"I had my share of stalker fans when we were doing the Pack show," Fox admitted. "It was different then, when it was just me. If that had happened now, with my husband and kids, the first thing I'd do is get them to safety before hunting the guy down and kicking some ass." She said it so fiercely that Elisa had no doubts. "So, yes, they are more than welcome to stay here for as long as needed."

"Thank you," Elisa said.

"I will send Owen with a car to pick them up." Fox said. "Just let me know when they're ready."

An hour later, both Skyler and Liam were packed up with everything they could possibly need.

Elisa sat on the sofa playing with Liam, marveling at his collection of toy cars that he insisted on dragging out of the toy box in the corner to show her, as if she hadn't seen them a hundred times. He had a fascination with cars, and Elisa had the feeling that he was going to work with NASCAR in the future.

The buzzer sounded from the desk up front. Elisa moved to the panel and answered.

"Mrs. Maza," came the no nonsense voice of Monroe, another security officer from downstairs. "Your driver is here, and you have a package downstairs."

"Thanks Monroe," Elisa responded.

"Okay buddy," Elisa said, picking up the small boy from the massive pile of toys. "Time to go."

He whimpered, throwing his arms around her neck.

Elisa rubbed a hand in circles on his back. "Hey," she said softly. "I'll be there to see you soon," she promised. "But for today, you get to go hang out with Alexander and Christopher. I think they might have a new racing game for you to play."

"'Kay," he said.

She held him on the ride downstairs, but transferred him to Skyler before the doors opened. It was for his protection, just in case the stalker was watching in the lobby. He didn't mention her son, so it was possible that he didn't know about Liam.

She wanted to keep it that way as long as she could.

Ironically, if this guy ever actually investigated her, he would have found multiple news articles about her and Liam from when she'd found him and then adopted him.

Luckily, it seemed that he hadn't gotten that far.

Yet.

She had given Skyler instructions to take Liam quickly to the car, and act as if she didn't know Elisa. If anyone were watching, Elisa was hoping that it would look as if they were strangers, sharing the elevator by chance, not design.

As planned, Skyler hustled through the lobby, talking only to Liam to keep him occupied, and didn't acknowledge Elisa.

It broke her heart, watching her son taken away, even knowing that this was the best option.

Elisa turned from them and walked to the security desk.

"Hey," Elisa greeted the older man. He was big, broad shouldered and even with his salt and pepper hair, he looked like a retired wrestler. He was a nice guy, Elisa knew. A retired officer, after spending 15 years on the force himself, he was a complete family man, having a house full of kids and his wife was the love of his life.

"Hey," Monroe greeted with a concerned look. "I got the rundown from the notes in the log, but are you ok?"

"It's just another day in my crazy life," Elisa said.

"Are you expecting any deliveries?" He asked.

"No," Elisa said.

"Want me to open this here?" Monroe offered, bringing up a medium sized box. "No return address, so it seemed a little sketchy to me."

"Thanks," Elisa said. "I'll take you up on that."

Monroe produced a long, lethal looking silver letter opener. He slit the packing tape and eased the flap open.

"Elisa," he said slowly. "Are you sure you didn't order this?"

Elisa frowned and peeked inside.

Inside was a brown teddy bear with a big blue now around its neck and a card.

Elisa drew back. "No. Do you have any gloves on you?"

"I'll grab some from the maintenance guys." He said quickly, using a big black walkie talkie to call them. One of the efficient workers appeared in less than two minutes, a pair of blue disposable gloves in hand.

Elisa put them on, removed the teddy bear and set it on the counter. It was a good sized bear, overstuffed so that it sat on the counter, not like the softer cuddly kind that most kids prefer. Gingerly, handling it by only the corners to preserve any prints, Elisa withdrew the card from where it had laid hidden by the bear.

Unlike the others, this one had a very childlike design on the front with teddy bears at a picnic. Uneasily, Elisa opened it.

'I just heard about your son,' it read. 'I knew after watching you with the other kids, that you would be an amazing mother. I will be a great dad, and I hope to meet him soon. Congratulations. J.'

Elisa fought the urge to tear it up, opting instead to drop it back in the box. She shoved the bear back in the box and slammed the flaps shut.

So he knew.

Elisa let out a deep breath. She'd gotten Liam out just in time.


	12. Chapter 12

The bear was sitting on her desk at work while the card was sent to the lab to try to get prints off of it.

Elisa, Matt and Travis just stood and stared at it.

The sun had already set by the time Elisa got to work, running a little late due to the lack of police escort to get her there on time, but after she had reported to Maria about the bear and card, Elisa had been ordered to sit tight and wait.

Elisa called the castle again, for her own state of mind, to check on everyone there. Fox assured her that everyone was well and safe. She also mentioned that they had found someone to play her 'significant other' and that they would meet her at the station.

"Don't worry," she had said slyly when Elisa had asked who it was. "You'll know him when you see him."

Great. Just another thing to add to her anxiety.

"So," Matt asked. "What do you want to do about this?"

"Send it to the lab, I guess," Elisa said. "I doubt they'll get anything from it, though."

She had been so focused on the bear and her thoughts were so far away, that she hadn't realized that someone was behind her until a pair of arms snuck around her waist.

She stiffened immediately, and went to turn to break the hold.

Then the sound of a familiar voice whispered in her ear.

"Good evening, My Elisa."

Elisa froze in shock. She looked down at the large, tanned arms that held her.

Elisa suddenly whirled around and looked into a face she had only seen once before, years ago.

"Goliath?" Elisa whispered in disbelief.

His so familiar smile spread, lighting his face.

He was still tall in his human form, but not as tall as his gargoyle one. His long hair had been pulled back into a ponytail, reminiscent of David Xanatos. He was clad in a white button up dress shirt underneath a black V-neck sweater and a pair of black dress pants.

Elisa felt her mouth water a bit, even as the strangeness tickled at her consciousness.

He ran a hand through her hair, and in that instant, she knew for sure that it was him.

"What?" Elisa stammered, "How?"

"We will discuss it later," he promised. He gave her a strong hug.

"Hey, Maza," Charisse from the front desk wandered over, her eyes taking Goliath in almost hungrily. "Want to introduce me?"

Elisa sent her a warning look. "This is my husband," Elisa said.

Charisse blinked twice in rapid succession as her face went carefully blank. "Oh, sorry," she said sheepishly. "It's nice to finally meet you, sir."

"Thank you," he said slowly.

"I'll just, uh…" she motioned to the desk and hurried away. Probably to spread the word that Elisa's mysterious husband was in the house.

"Goliath," Matt said in a jovial tone, having overcome his own shock. He held out a hand and greeted Goliath like an old friend. "Good to see you."

"Yes," he said, his deep baritone overshadowing the background noise in the room. "It is nice to see you again."

Elisa was aware of the stares aiming in their direction. "There is a story here," she said quietly, "But I'm almost afraid to ask."

"Maza," Maria barked from her office doorway. "In here, now."

Elisa looked at Goliath. "Don't go anywhere," she told him, and hurried to Maria's office.

Maria closed the door behind them. "Do I want to know who that is?" She asked briskly.

"It's Goliath," Elisa said, still sounding a little shocked, even to herself.

Maria raised an eyebrow. "Do I want to know?"

"Probably not," Elisa said. "Honestly, I'm as surprised as you are."

"Well," Maria said abruptly, sitting in her office chair. "At least we have that angle covered for tonight, or is this going to be an every night deal?"

"I haven't had a chance to ask him," Elisa admitted.

"I'm sending him out with you," she decided. "Everyone here is aware of what's going on, so no one here will say anything about him doing a ride along. Plus," Maria peeked around Elisa to where Goliath stood still talking to Matt. "He looks more than capable of defending you."

Elisa smiled. "He does at that."

Maria gave her a look. "You going to be able to work tonight? No distractions?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Alright," Maria said. "What are you going to tell everyone, so we have our stories straight? Is he your concerned husband or a very secret undercover officer that no one will recognize?"

"Husband," Elisa said. "I accidently let that one slip already."

Maria nodded. "Just so that you're kept in the loop, the last delivery has opened this up to be an actual case, so I am officially making this case a priority. Also," Maria admitted, "Since the last delivery not only constitutes a threat to a minor child, but also came through the United States Postal Service, it has now escalated to a federal status since a federal service was used to deliver it."

Elisa nodded. "I figured that would happen."

"For the time being, if you do have anything you need delivered by mail, use caution," Maria recommended. "Your address has been flagged for the time being, and they will be paying attention to what is coming in."

Elisa nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Good," Maria said. "Go ahead and get out of here." She gave Elisa a small smile. "Go take your man for a ride, and keep an ear out for the radio."

Elisa smiled back, "Thanks."

-{- -{- -{- -{- -{- -{-

Elisa returned to her desk to find several officers surrounding it.

They were all talking to Goliath.

Elisa had a moment to worry before she got close enough. She'd made no secret that she was married, and the other officers made it a habit to give her crap at the station's events where family members could attend about her "absent" husband that no one but Matt and Maria had ever met.

The fact that Elisa was still using her maiden name hadn't helped, despite her protestations that she was still using Maza as her name for professional reasons.

Elisa was pretty sure that half of the people she worked with thought she'd made him up.

"Okay, guys," Elisa said briskly, grabbing her coat off of the back of the chair. "Enough grilling my husband. We've got to go."

Goliath and Matt hurried to her side.

"Hey Maza," Travis called. "Want me to take this thing down to the lab?" He asked, jabbing his thumb towards the bear still on her desk.

"Yeah," Elisa called back. "Can you make sure that Pamela gets that?"

"On it," He confirmed, picking up the bear and making his way to the forensics labs.


	13. Chapter 13

Elisa pulled into a nearly deserted parking area of a small business complex.

She threw the car into park and turned off the ignition. She'd driven a ways away from the station, just to be on the safe side, and now whirled to look at her human formed husband in the back seat.

He… looked a little green.

"Goliath?" She asked, concerned.

"I have never ridden inside a car before," He said slowly.

Matt started laughing. "And you've never driven with your wife," He said. "Oh, man…"

Elisa glared at Matt. "Stay here," she said.

Matt raised his hands, "Not going anywhere."

Elisa and Goliath got out of the car, his complexion evening back out with his feet back on solid ground.

"Not that I'm not appreciating the surprise," Elisa said, giving him a quick once over, "But what happened?"

"I did not like the idea of you having to pretend to have someone else in your life," Goliath admitted, frowning.

"I work undercover sometimes," She reminded him, but had to admit, "but I wasn't exactly looking forward to it, either." She frowned. "Seriously, though, how did…"

"I spoke with Puck," Goliath admitted.

"I wondered."

Goliath pulled Elisa's chain and wedding ring from under the collar of his shirt, the stone of her wedding ring sparkling more than the limited lighting of the parking lot would have caused.

"He placed a spell on your ring, so I am able to remain human until I am no longer needed as such," Goliath smiled. "As long as I wear this around my neck, I am able to be with you here to help."

"Please tell me that this isn't going to be like last time," Elisa asked, "Because I do not want to have to break my ring."

"No," Goliath said. "It is only until I take this from around my neck." Goliath lifted the ring, still on its chain, so that it caught the light from the street lamps. "Once it is removed, the spell is done."

"It's nice, don't get me wrong," Elisa placed a hand against the side of his face, "But I'm going to be glad to have you, the _real_ you, back."

He closed his eyes, and leaned into her hand. Turning, he placed a kiss into her palm.

Elisa gave a breathless laugh and gave him a gentle push back. "Alright, Big Guy. Let's get back to work."

-{- -{- -{- -{- -{- -{-

They were on their way to vandalism call when the dispatcher reached out to Elisa and Matt to return to the station ASAP.

Elisa shared a look with Matt. For a return call like that, something had happened and it probably wasn't good.

Elisa turned the car around at the first opportunity, and made her way back to the station.

The three of them re-entered the police station to a strangely subdued room. Normally, the reception area was a mass of people and noise. Today, the officers who were still there, were quiet. Some even seemed uneasy.

Elisa felt a tightening in her gut. Something was really wrong, and the three of them seemed to be the last to know. As one group, they wound their way through the maze of desks towards the Captain's office.

The door was open, so as the approached, they could see Maria at her desk, phone to her ear. Not breaking the call, she waved them all in.

Matt was the last in, and closed the doors behind them.

Maria finished her call, and with deliberate slowness, she replaced the phone on the cradle.

"Personal or business?" Elisa asked.

"Both," Maria said abruptly. "Matt, shut the blinds."

Matt raised his eyebrows. The only time that happened, according to the rumor mill, is when a severe ass chewing was imminent. He reached over to first one set, then the second set of blinds.

Maria leaned forward on her desk. "We got results back from the lab," Maria started, not mincing words. "We were able to narrow down where the card came from and are petitioning for the security tapes. We got a few prints off as well, and will hopefully hear back from the AFIS guys soon."

"That's a good thing, right?" Elisa asked.

Maria nodded, "It will be if this guy has prints on file somewhere," She said. "It's that bear that made me call you back, however."

Goliath frowned. "The toy?"

Maria nodded. "It wasn't just a bear, Elisa. It was rigged with a camera."

Elisa froze, Goliath frowned, and Matt swore softly.

"According to the tech guys," Maria went on, "It was transmitting both picture and sound."

Elisa mentally went back through everything that had happened in front of that damn bear since she'd gotten it.

"Luckily, I didn't take it up to my place," Elisa said slowly. "Liam was already on his way to the castle by then, so he didn't see or hear Liam. Other than that, it was in the box until it got here…" Elisa's head jerked up and she met Goliath's eyes. "It was on my desk when I told Charisse that Goliath was my husband."

"I was afraid of something like that," Maria said tiredly.

"So… The slow escalation we were hoping for…" Matt trailed off.

"Just got a powerful boot to the ass," Maria said. "If this person is as unhinged as it seems, then the situation just got a hell of a lot worse."

Elisa had a bad feeling. She took out her phone and dialed the security guard desk at her building.

"Tony," Elisa greeted. "This is…"

"Mrs Maza," Tony interrupted. "I was about to call you."

"Was there another delivery?" Elisa asked.

"Yes, ma'am," He replied. "Delivered by an overnight courier. It's another box."

"Tony, hold it there at the desk." Elisa instructed, watching as Maria picked up her phone and hurriedly dialed another number. "Don't touch it any more than you already have, and I'll be there soon."

"Alright," Tony said, tension in his voice. "It's here at the front desk."

"I'll be there in a few minutes," She promised.

As she ended the call, Maria ended hers as well. "There were some officers near your building on another call. They'll meet you there," She said.

Elisa nodded sharply.

"Let's go," Matt said, and the three of them were once more hustling out the door. "We'll take my car. I'm driving."

It was a sign of just how out of sorts Elisa was, that she handed over the keys without a fight.


	14. Chapter 14

They arrived at the Jade building fifteen minutes later.

The reception area held Tony, four officers and a K-9 who was sniffing around the desk.

"Bomb sniffing dog," Matt murmured to Goliath. "Just in case."

Goliath let out a rumbled growl, odd sounding from his human throat.

Elisa laid a hand briefly on his arm. "They don't know you, Goliath, so stay close."

Goliath nodded, and walked silently behind his wife.

Elisa and Matt held their badges up to identify themselves to the officers.

"Mrs. Maza," Tony greeted.

"Tony," Elisa returned, before turning her attention to the officers. "What did you guys find?"

"Nothing, detective," the K-9 handler reported. "Whatever is in the box isn't explosive, so you're clear to take a look."

Elisa felt her shoulders sag in relief. She quickly extracted a pair of the clear latex gloves and put them on. "OK. Let's get it open."

Tony hurried to offer the letter opener again, and backed away to let the police officers do what needed to be done.

The tape was cut, and the box opened to reveal a similar teddy bear as before. It wasn't identical, but similar enough to make its point.

It had been ripped apart and shoved in the box, stuffing and limbs crowded together.

Elisa took a breath, and gently began removing the intact bits to put on the counter. Even through her gloves, she felt the stiff corners of the envelope though the stuffed animal fluff. Gently, she lifted it out.

It was just a plain, letter-sized envelope this time. Her name was written across the front in big bold letters, the depressions from the letters were so deep that she could feel them as she inspected them. Turning it over, she opened the envelope to discover that it wasn't a card this time, but folded papers.

She opened them and forced herself to read it.

It was two words, written across the page in broad strokes of a red marker.

"Cheating whore."

Elisa handed the paper to Matt with a grimace. "Yeah," Elisa said, huskily. "I'm thinking that it just got a whole lot worse."

Matt's head jerked in a wince as he read the boldly printed words, folding them back up to hide it from Goliath. Human or Gargoyle, Goliath was not going to ignore the threat to Elisa. His willingness to be here, in a human form was evidence of that.

He feared Goliath's reaction to this one.

Matt hurried to slip the paper in an evidence bag and seal it.

"He's definitely mad," Matt said.

"Whatever timeline we thought we had," Elisa said, "Just got drastically shortened."

Matt nodded. "Let's take this back to the station and regroup."

"Thanks guys," Elisa waved at the other officers. "We've got it from here."

The officers left, knowing that there wasn't anything else that they could do.

"Thanks, Tony," Elisa said. "I appreciate you keeping an eye out."

Tony shrugged. "It's not a problem, Mrs. Maza. Glad to help. Let me know if there's anything else I can do."

"I will," She promised.

Tony returned to his post at the desk, and Matt made short work of putting the pieces of bear back in the box for transport to the station.

Elisa's phone rang then. She walked to the other side of the lobby and answered it with a brisk, "Maza."

"Please tell me that you're still at your building," Captain Chavez's voice rang through the phone.

"Yeah," Elisa said, matching Maria's tone. "We're still here."

"Who is 'we'?" Maria demanded.

"Matt, Goliath and I," Elisa said slowly. Maria was really agitated right now, and Elisa needed to find out why.

"You and Goliath stay there," Maria said firmly. "Send Matt back to the station, but you are off the clock. Go up to your place, lock yourself in and stay there for now. I'll call you back as soon as I can."

"Alright," Elisa said, but it was a response to dead air. Maria had already hung up.

Elisa frowned at the phone, before replacing it in her pocket.

"Matt," Elisa called out. "Problem."

Matt approached her with the box of dismembered bear bits in his hands. "What's going on?"

"I don't know," Elisa said, shaking her head. "But I have just been ordered to stay here and not come back to the station. Something's going on, but Captain Chavez didn't tell me what."

"I need to take this back to the station," Matt said grimly. "I'll call you as soon as I get back there and let you know what's going on."

Elisa nodded her gratitude. "Thanks."

Matt turned and made his way to the doors.

Elisa turned to Goliath, "Looks like we're done for the day," She said.

Goliath wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Let us go home," He said, turning her toward the elevators.

-{- -{- -{- -{- -{- -{-

Once they reached the condo, Elisa had a sudden bust or nervous energy.

"I'm hungry," She said in a rush. "Want something to eat?"

"Elisa," Goliath said softly.

Elisa didn't respond. "I think I have some leftover pasta from last night," Elisa said, hurrying in the kitchen.

Goliath followed her, concern for his mate driving him. "Elisa," He said, a little louder.

Elisa, normally a tidy person, was currently shoving items around in her fridge. She retrieved a large Tupperware container of pasta sauce, complete with her homemade meatballs, and a similar one with the leftover Rigatoni noodles.

"Elisa," Goliath said once more, firmly.

Elisa put the containers on the counter with a solid thud. She started to speak, but wouldn't look up.

"Goliath," She said softly, so much so that he almost didn't hear her. "I'm so sorry."

He frowned and moved closer to her side. "What have you to be sorry for?"

Elisa gave a watery laugh. "I've been trying to figure it out, but…" She gave an angry swipe across her eyes, "I just can't figure out what I did. I mean, seriously, did I do anything to give this psycho any ideas that I was interested? Did I do anything to encourage it?"

Goliath rushed forward and wrapped his arms around her, wishing that he had his wings to give them an extra payer of protection between them and the world. "Elisa," He said softly, "MY Elisa," He said again, raising her chin up with a finger, "You have done nothing wrong, of that I am sure."

"But what if…" Elisa started, but Goliath interrupted her.

"It is not like you to deal in the 'What if's," He pointed out.

Elisa took a shaky breath. "Gods," She said on the exhale. "I wouldn't give up you or Liam for anything, but with the two of you…If something happened because of someone I met on the job…"

"We will protect each other," Goliath said firmly. "And together, we protect our family. It is not your job, alone, my love."

Elisa threw her arms around his waist. "Sorry, Big Guy," She said with a sigh. "I guess I just needed a minute. I haven't really had time to process all of this."

Goliath held her close, staying silent and offering what comfort he could. He knew that she needed to think, but the speed at which this had all happened had rocked her from her foundation. She was a good cop, and fast thinking on her feet when needed, but this situation threatened more than just her. It was her family in danger.

Instinctively, he swung her up into his arms and carried her up to their bedroom. Carefully, he laid her on the bed, then laid beside her. Her head was pillowed on his shoulder, and she was tucked neatly against his side.

"Hey, Goliath," Elisa's voice sounded… odd.

"Yes?" He responded, cautiously.

She placed a hand against his sweater-clad vest. "I'm just curious… How long did you say you had this spell?"


	15. Chapter 15

An hour later, the couple returned to the living room to await a call from the precinct as to what the situation was.

Goliath, taking advantage of his human-sized form for the moment, laid on the couch with Elisa tucked beside him.

Elisa, worn out from the stress of the last few days, as well as their lovemaking just a short time ago, was only partially awake, and tracing patterns on his chest.

He was once again dressed in the white shirt and the black pants, but had chosen to leave off the sweater and the shoes... Something he was all too happy to do, as he'd never worn shoes before and was having trouble adjusting to the feel of them on his feet.

Elisa's hand stopped moving, and Goliath brushed her hair away from her face. She was fully asleep now, and he was content to leave her to rest as long as he could.

There was a light tapping at the balcony doors, just before they slid silently open. Goliath felt himself tense up, prepared to get to his feet and fight for his mate, but relaxed when Angela's voice called in.

"Father?" She called out into the dimly lit apartment.

"Yes," He returned quietly.

Thankfully, despite this unfamiliar form, he had retained his gargoyle strength. He was able to stand easily with Elisa cradled in his arms. Gently, without waking her, he was able to turn and return her to the couch.

Once he was sure that she was still undisturbed, he turned back to Angela. Using a hand motion, he indicated that he would follow her outside.

The chilled night air hit him like a slap, just one more sensation he was unfamiliar with, and he quickly shut the patio door behind him.

Turning, he discovered that both Hudson and Broadway had accompanied her.

"What have you discovered?" Goliath asked them.

"Nothing much," Broadway said apologetically.

"We stayed near the station," Angela said, "The others spread out hoping to see something, but…"

"There's nothing that we can find, lad," Hudson said. "Nothing out of the ordinary that could pose a threat to you or the lass."

Goliath nodded solemnly. He had expected that, even as he had been hoping for better news.

"Have you heard from Matt?" Broadway asked.

"No," Goliath growled. "Why?"

Broadway and Angela exchanged a nervous look.

"What has happened?" Goliath demanded.

"We're not sure," Angela said slowly.

"Something to do with the Lass's car," Hudson said. "We were not able to get close enough to see."

"It was still parked out front," Broadway said. "But we all followed you here when you left with Elisa, so we didn't' see anything happen to it."

"But it's not there anymore," Angela finished in a rush.

Goliath frowned thoughtfully, tapping his fingers against his chin.

"It's so weird," Broadway blurted out. "I mean, it's you, but… not you."

Goliath sent the younger male a look.

"There he is," Angela chuckled.

The sound of a telephone ringing broke the silence from inside the apartment, and the gargoyles hurried inside.

"H'lo," Elisa answered sleepily, her eyes still closed.

In the space of time between one heartbeat and the next, Elisa's eyes sprung open, and she was sitting upright. Not wanting to interrupt, the clan members stood by and waited.

"Wait, what?" Elisa said, running a hand through her hair. "Matt, slow down. What's going on?"

A few more moments passed as Elisa listened intently. "So you got a hit?" She looked up at Goliath and the others. "They got a print off of the last box," she relayed. "Sorry, Matt. I have Goliath and a few others here. Who? No, I have no idea who that is." She ran her free hand roughly through her hair, then froze. "Wait, you talked to who?"

Goliath, frustrated at only hearing one side of the conversation, moved closer to Elisa in hopes of getting something from the other side.

"Okay," Elisa took a deep breath. "Well at least we have a name. Yeah, go ahead and run it, and see what you get. Yeah. No, I'm not going anywhere. Yes, Goliath is with me," Elisa rolled her eyes. "Yes, mother, I'll play nice with others." There was a pause. "Yeah. Just let me know if anything else comes up okay? Thanks, Matt."

Elisa hung up the phone, and turned to the group. "So they got a print match from the last box. It belongs to a guy named Jeremy Cross." Elisa shrugged, "I don't recognize the name, but that doesn't mean much. Matt told me that he and Jason have been working together, since there may have been a hospital connection, and Jason said he may know who it is and passed along what he could to Matt. Matt and a few of the others will be heading out to home and work addresses to see if they can find the guy."

"That's good, right?" Angela asked.

"If they can find him, yes," Elisa said. "Let's just hope he's dumb enough to be at home or work tonight. Matt will call if he finds anything else."

"And if they cannot find him?" Goliath asked.

"Then I'm basically under house arrest," Elisa shrugged. "No one in and no one out."

Goliath placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle, reassuring squeeze. Turning to the others, he asked, "Have you been to the castle tonight?"

"Aye, lad," Hudson said with a shake of his head, "I stopped for a bit earlier. I knew you an' the Lass would be askin'." Hudson smiled, "Our Young Liam is doing well, though he be impatient to get home."

Elisa let out a sigh of relief. "And Skyler?"

"She be well," Hudson said. "Though, she did ask me to pass along a message that if you need anything to let her know, and she can bring it to ye."

Elisa smiled. "Luckily, I keep the kitchen well stocked, so we won't have to worry about food if this lasts a while. That's the only thing I could possibly need that's not already here. Hudson, if you see her again tonight, let her know that I'm fine, but I'll let her know if I need anything. And thank her again for me, for getting Liam safely to the castle. Turns out it was just in time," Elisa gave an involuntary shudder.

"We'd best be getting back to the castle now, anyhow," Hudson said, glancing to the windows. "We do not have a lot of time left."

"Be safe, guys," Elisa said, walking with them all to the doors to say goodbye.

"Bye, Elisa," Angela said with her usual cheery wave as she leapt from the balcony.

"Goodbye, Lass," Hudson said, "Hopefully this will all be past us tomorrow night."

"I hope so," Elisa said softly, as Hudson followed behind Angela.

Broadway hesitated for just a moment. "Hey, we never found out what happened to your car," He blurted out.

Elisa frowned. "What happened to my car?"

"Uhhh," Broadway said, realizing his error, "Maybe I was mistaken. Bye," And he literally threw himself from the balcony to save himself from his own verbal mistake.


	16. Chapter 16

Elisa hung up the phone after speaking with Matt about her car.

The bastard had keyed her car.

Elisa was fuming. Her car was a classic, and she had spent time and money keeping it looking as good as she could. Honestly, it was the only non-living thing in this world that she could say that she loved…

And Jeremy Cross, had damaged it.

What kind of psycho would do that?

The good news was that the station's security cameras caught him.

The bad news was that the pictures were still pretty grainy, so she still didn't have a clear picture of who it was.

Matt admitted that he'd left that bit out. There was a collection being taken at the station by everyone to help her cover the paint repair, and Matt had had her car towed to the body shop that she frequented.

"Look," Matt said. "I'm about to run by your place with the few pictures that we do have of this guy. If you can ID him and see if you can remember where you may have seen this guy, that would go a long way to finding him. We're trying to run an employment search, but so far we're not getting anything current. I just wanted to let you know I was on my way."

"Ok," Elisa said. "I'll let security know downstairs."

"See you in a few," Matt said and hung up.

Elisa looked at the phone and laughed. They had definitely been working together too long. He had stopped saying goodbye when he talked on the phone… He'd gotten that from her.

"Matt's on his way," Elisa told Goliath. "He wants me to take a look at some pictures."

Goliath frowned. "I thought that there was to be no one allowed in or out of our home tonight."

"Normally, that's the case," Elisa said. "But if I can identify this guy before he does any more damage, then we might be able to get him tonight. Then things can go back to normal." Elisa placed a gentle hand on his cheek. "Not that this isn't nice, but…"

Goliath smiled. "I understand."

"I need to let Marco know that Matt's on the way." Elisa said, picking up the telephone again. "Hey Marco. Sorry to bother you so late, but there's an NYPD officer coming in soon with some important stuff for me. Can you go ahead and buzz him up?" Elisa paused for a second. "Thanks, Marco. Sorry about all the trouble."

Elisa hung up the phone.

"I'm starving," Elisa said on a sigh. "We didn't get to eat earlier. Are you hungry?"

Goliath's stomach chose that moment to growl, and Elisa chuckled.

"Never mind, Big Guy," Elisa said. "I think I have some steaks thawed that I can cook up."

Goliath followed her into the kitchen, and took a seat in one of the high stools that lined the counter.

A few minutes later, two steaks were frying on her grill pan, and she was chopping vegetables for a salad.

The buzz sounded, letting them know that Matt was on his way up.

"Great timing," Elisa laughed. "When there's food involved, trust Matt to be there."

Goliath got to his feet. "I will get the door," He said, and went around the corner to the entry.

Elisa was about to begin tossing the salad when the elevator bell chimed.

The door opened, and the sound of a gunshot made Elisa instinctively drop to a crouch.

The silence after the shot was deafening.

Elisa covered her mouth with her hand, trying to force her panic down. She had to think clearly.

She looked to the small bit of wall that separated the entry hall from the kitchen. On the other side was the hall tree where she'd hung her red coat, and her gun holster. With Liam not home, she had been a little lax with her regular ritual of locking it up.

Elisa kept low, and crept to the end of the counter, that would keep her hidden from view if someone came in this far.

Endless seconds passed before she heard the faint squeak of rubber soled shoes on the tiled entryway.

Elisa mentally tracked the footfalls. They were in the living area, but they must have heard the sizzling of the steaks that were still on the grill.

Elisa edged forward, and peeked out low, where the stool seats would keep her hidden, but she could see his legs between the stool legs.

She watched as the intruder slowed, then turned to enter the main area on the opposite side of the counter.

Elisa moved quickly, keeping as low as she could, and moved to the other side. She was so close to the hall now, if she could only get him to look the other way…

Elisa knew she'd have only seconds.

She slid one of her boots off, and rose to a runner's stance. Without looking, she threw the boot straight behind her, opposite the way she was going to run. She heard the rustle of fabric and prayed that meant he was looking toward the noise.

Elisa dashed around the corner, and out of years of practice and drills, released the catch on her holster, turned and knelt to one knee.

She heard the running feet, and took a deep breath. She released it slowly, focusing on keeping her hands steady, as a figure came around the corner.

She had only a fraction of a moment, and the briefest impression of a tall man in uniform.

Between one breath and the next, two guns fired simultaneously.

Only one hit their mark.

He had been aiming high, where she would have been had she been standing.

She aimed high, hitting him in the chest.

He fell backwards, his gun flying from his hands, landing in a heap on the ground.

Elisa waited, her gun trained on him, but he didn't move again.

She got to her feet slowly, running forward to kick his gun away from him. His face had frozen in an expression of shock, his eyes dull.

"Goliath," Elisa breathed, looking behind her. He wasn't there in the hallway. "Goliath!" She screamed now, running to the door that separated her condo from the elevator. He wasn't there, but there was a smear of blood just inside the door.

"No," Elisa said, wrenching at the door, "No, no, no…"

On the other side of the door, Goliath's human form lay face down.

Elisa fell to her knees, and rolled him over. "Goliath!"

He groaned as she rolled him over. He was alive, and the relief almost made Elisa lightheaded.

She spotted the gunshot wound in his shoulder, and pressed her hands over the hole to apply pressure. Goliath groaned again, his face screwing up into an expression of pain.

"I'm sorry," Elisa said. "I know it hurts, I'm sorry."

Goliath slowly opened his eyes.

"I need to call for help," Elisa said. "I'll be right back."

Elisa got to her feet, running through the space and getting her phone. She pressed her speed dial button that would get Matt.

He answered on the first ring. "Elisa, Travis and I are on the way in the door now, did you…"

"Matt, help," Elisa said, not caring if she made sense at this point. "The guy got in. He shot Goliath. I need help."

Matt let out a colorful expletive. "I'm on my way," He said, and she could tell he was running now. "NYPD," She heard him identify himself. "I'm Maza's partner, and I need up there now."

Elisa dropped the phone, not caring that it was still active, placing her hands back over the gaping wound.

"Goliath," Elisa said, "Stay with me."

Elisa was vaguely aware of the elevator noise behind her.

"Matt's on his way," Elisa said in a rush. "You just need to stay with me."

Goliath opened his eyes and raised a hand to cover hers where they pressed on his shoulder. "Elisa," He said in a pain filled voice, before he seemed to lose consciousness.

The doors of the elevator opened, officer Travis and Matt spilled out into the small entryway that spanned between the elevator and her front door.

Matt immediately knelt beside Goliath opposite Elisa, and Travis, gun out, moved into the condo.

"Matt," Elisa said, fear constricting her chest, "Help me get him to the patio."

Matt looked at her like she was crazy. "Elisa, we can't move him."

"We have to," Elisa practically shouted at him. "Sunrise is only a few minutes away. If we can get him outside, we can get that ring off him, and he can go into stone sleep AS a gargoyle and heal this."

Matt nodded his understanding, and got under one shoulder. Elisa got under the other, and together, the hefted Goliath's weight between them.

"Switch me," Travis said, shoving his gun into his holster and all but pushing Elisa out of the way. "Where are we going?" He asked Matt.

"Outside," Matt said shortly.

As much as Elisa wanted to argue, she knew that the guys would be able to do this faster than she could. She ran ahead to open the patio doors, not even sparing a glance at the dead man in her living room.

Travis and Matt had to go through the doors at an angle, but they managed to get through the door, the cold air whipping at their hair and clothes.

"Lay him down," Elisa said.

Matt and Travis laid Goliath, who even in human form was taller and heavier than either of them.

Elisa knelt by Goliath's side. gently, she began patting his cheek. "Goliath? Come on Big Guy, open your eyes."

Goliath showed no response.

Matt frowned, and knelt by Goliath's side. He placed his fingers on Goliath's neck, feeling for a pulse.

"Travis," Matt bit out, stripping out of his duster coat. "Help Elisa."

Elisa's eyes swung up to go between Matt and Travis. "What…"

Travis came up behind her and got her to her feet.

"Matt?" Elisa asked frantically.

Matt didn't answer. He was too busy performing CPR.

"No," Elisa said, the barest of whisper at first, then repeated in a scream.

Travis wouldn't let her go, despite her struggling.

"Elisa," Matt ground out between clenched teeth. He was trying to split his concentration, and that couldn't happen right now. "Eyes on the sky."

It took ELisa a moment to understand. Of course, she'd be the best one to time this. After all, she'd spent years now, having to be conscious of when the sun was about to rise. Sometimes she could practically feel it, even when she was indoors.

"Okay,' Elisa said, trying to steady herself. "Okay," she said again, trying to get a grip.

They only had to keep his heart beating until sunrise.

Elisa looked to the horizon, and watched as the colors began to lighten the sky. Black turned to a dark blue, then a light blue. The clouds turned from a dark grey to a deep red, heralding the coming dawn.

"Travis, let me go," Elisa said, trying to remain calm.

Travis reluctantly released her, but stayed close to her like a shadow in case he needed to step in.

Elisa knelt by her still husband. She laid her hands on his head, one on each side, cradling his face in her hands.

She kept her eyes on the horizon line.

"Come on, come on," she chanted in her mind.

There! Finally, the pale streaks of that brilliant white and yellow of the sun's arrival.

"Matt?" Elisa asked, her voice strained.

Matt stopped compressions, and felt for a pulse. He almost gave in to start again, but he felt the faintest beats against his fingers.

"Got him!" Matt said.

Elisa grasped the chain in her hands, and pulled with all her strength. The delicate chain broke, and her ring flew through the air.

Suddenly, Goliath's human form expanded, lengthened. His tail and wings sprouted from his back.

In a matter of seconds, he was fully Gargoyle, and encased in his stone skin.

Elisa was afraid to move, her legs trembling in fear. She wasn't even sure that she would be able to stand on her own.

Sensing this, Matt walked around Goliath and took one of Elisa's arms. Gently he attempted to help her to her feet.

In the end, it took both Matt and Travis to get her to her feet. They guided her back inside, and escorted her to the small office on the ground floor.

"You stay with her, Matt," Travis said. "I'll go call this in."

Elisa looked up at Matt in a panic. "I think I killed another officer. He was in uniform."

Matt placed a hand on her shoulder in support. "We'll take a look, Elisa. You stay here." He handed her the telephone. "Before this hits the radio waves, call your parents and let them know you're alright. Then call the castle and talk to Skyler and Liam."

Elisa nodded, and numbly began to dial.

The phone on the other end, despite the early hour, was answered on the second ring.

"Hello," Came the cheerful greeting.

"Mom?" Elisa said, as the events of the last few hours came crashing down on her, "Mom, I need help…"


	17. Chapter 17

Elisa finished the phone call with her mother, letting them know that she was alright before her father could hear the call over the police frequencies. He had been retired from the force for a little over ten years, but he still monitored the channels.

Once a cop, always a cop.

Her mother promised that she would pass along the message, but insisted that they were coming to stay with her for the day.

Elisa wanted to protest, but didn't.

She called Skyler, but other than checking to make sure that both she and Liam were okay, she requested that they stay there a few more days until she was certain that the danger had passed. She heard the concern in Skyler's voice, but Elisa was having enough trouble keeping herself together without having to share comforting words that she didn't have.

A blessed state of numbness had taken over now, leaving her feeling hollow.

She got to her feet, still clad in the clothes she'd been wearing for two day that were now blood stained, and joined Matt and Travis.

Thankfully, someone had covered the body with a spare sheet from her linen closet so that she wouldn't have to look at it.

Elisa sat on the couch, so that she wasn't facing the door. Unfortunately, that gave her a clear view of the courtyard, and Goliath's prone stone form.

Had it been enough, she wondered. Would he wake tonight completely healed?

Would he wake at all? She gave an involuntary sob, and covered her mouth to try to block the sound.

Matt hurried forward, and drew the room darkening curtains across the doors, effectively blocking off the view.

"Elisa," Matt said, coming to sit beside her. "Maria and the coroner are on their way, along with several other officers. We need to talk and plan before they get here."

Elisa blinked at him. "Plan?"

"Elisa," Matt said her name firmly. He didn't like being harsh with her while she was probably going through a form of personal hell that he only hoped to never have to go through himself, but they needed to get this right. "We can't hide the fact that there was a second body shot here tonight. There it too much blood, in two different places, and only one in the dead body. We need to figure out what to tell people before anyone else gets here."

"Yeah, okay," Elisa said.

Matt frowned at her. "Travis," he called over his shoulder, "How much time do we have?"

Travis joined them, choosing to stand rather than sit, however. "We still have about fifteen or twenty minutes before anyone gets here. They're all caught in the morning gridlock out there."

"Alright," Matt said, looking from Elisa's shock-y face to Travis. "Here's what we're going to do. I'm going to call Elisa's doctor at the Aerie Building and try to figure out a good plan to explain where Goliath went. I need you to help run interference with any officers that may come up before Captain Chavez gets here. As far as any of them are concerned, we got her just after Cross was shot, and we helped Elisa get her husband on a medical transport out of here."

Travis nodded.

"Cross?" Elisa asked. "That was Cross?"

Matt nodded slowly. He reached in his coat and withdrew a few folded pages and handed them to Elisa.

With slow, deliberate but still shaky hands, Elisa unfolded them. The pages were printouts of security footage still frames, and one was a close up of a driver's license.

Elisa tried to study the footage shots, but she couldn't see him well enough to identify him. Finally, she turned to the driver's license, and froze.

"Wait," Elisa said, her breath hitching. "Matt, this is the guy from the YMCA." She shoved the page at her partner. "The janitor who helped me get up after I slipped in that puddle."

Matt nodded. "He was also there on the night of the supposed break in," He reminded her. "Turns out, he had attempted to erase the security footage from that night, but our crack team of computer wizards managed to recall the footage." Matt jerked his head in the direction of Cross. "He broke the window, and then made the call, probably hoping that you would be a responding officer."

Elisa frowned, trying to puzzle all this out. She lifted one of the still frames again, and really looked at it.

"Where did you guys get this footage?" Elisa asked. "It's not from our cameras, and the angle is weird."

"It was given to us by someone who witnessed the vandalism from across the street," Travis said. "He'd been playing around with his new video recorder, and was walking around taking video of birds and stuff. When it got so late, he started walking around, and saw what was happening. He ducked into the basement stairwell of a business and recorded what he saw."

"That's why the angle is weird," Elisa said. "He was filming across and up."

Matt nodded. She may be a little out of it emotionally, but her detective brain was still working.

"When I talked to you earlier, I told you that I'd been in touch with Jason," Matt reminded Elisa. "He had sent me an email with an offer to help ID anyone if we found a suspect."

"Turns out," Travis said, "he was a lot more helpful than we'd thought he would be."

"The angle," Elisa said on a sigh.

"The angle," Matt confirmed. "We had trouble with identification, so we sent it to Jason to see if he'd recognize the guy. Since Jason looks at people from a different angle now from his chair, he recognized Cross right away. A few minutes later, we got the confirmation hit with the finger prints."

"Where did Jason know Cross from?" Elis asked.

"Cross has a younger brother," Matt said. "Big sports player. I guess he got hurt during a game, and Jason has been helping him recover from the injury."

Elisa frowned. Something about that sounded familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it…

"Who is his brother?" She asked.

Travis flipped through his notepad, "Christopher."

"Oh my god," Elisa said, her mouth agape. "Chris? The kid who was trying to hit on me?"

"That I don't know," Matt shrugged. "But Jason was certain that was him."

"So, considering the timing," Travis said, "He may have seen you at the hospital when his was picking up his brother, then at his job the night you went to the Y to play with those kids."

Elisa closed her eyes and sank back in the couch, her head laying against the back of the cushions.

"Elisa?" Matt said abruptly.

"I'm still here, Matt," Elisa said. "Or, as here as I can manage. I'm just processing."

"No time," Travis said. "ETA of the others is now about five minutes."

Elisa opened her eyes. "Okay," She said on a sigh. She got herself upright once more. "For simplicity's sake, the only thing that's different is that Gol…" Elisa's voice hitched on her husband's name, but she took a breath and continued. "Goliath was shot, and he was transported to the Aerie Building through a private ambulance service for treatment. Did you already call Doctor James so he can verify?"

"Damn," Matt cursed, and grabbed out his phone. "I got caught up with the pictures."

Matt dialed, and stepped into Elisa's kitchen to talk to the doctor.

Elisa turned to Travis. "Wait… If that's Cross, why was he in uniform?"

Travis shrugged. "Probably just to get past security downstairs. It's a good recreation, but it's a costume. The badge looks like an NYPD badge, but it's plastic."

"And I called downstairs and told them to let you guys up," Elisa closed her eyes and bowed her head. "I don't know if I told him it was going to be you guys specifically, because I was preoccupied about my stupid car. Marco probably saw the uniform and assumed it was an officer I was waiting for."

Travis knelt down in front of Elisa. "It wasn't your fault, you know that, right?" he said softly. "This guy was just waiting for an opportunity to get to you. He probably had this planned, and it was just luck that he got past security."

Elisa nodded, not trusting her voice at the moment.

The tone at her door let her know that the elevator had arrived, and soon her place was swarming with officers, detectives, and the coroner.

A few minutes later, Maria arrived. She spent a few moments, redirecting everyone, and dispatching those who weren't needed elsewhere.

Once the extra people were out of the way, leaving only those essential to the case, Maria gestured to both Matt and Travis to follow her.

They made their way further into the room, and Maria gently sat down beside Elisa. "How are you holding up?"

Elisa shook her head. "I don't know. I don't really know much of anything right now."

Maria sighed and gave her a quick one-armed hug. "Did you call your parents?"

"Yeah," Elisa said. "I talked to mom."

"Good," Maria said, "At least you got to him before the radio chatter did. Are they on their way?"

"Yeah," Elisa said.

Maria nodded, then rose to her feet to stand. She motioned to Matt and Travis, and the three of them retreated further into the room, ending up beside the curtain covered doors. Conscious of the fact that there were other officers around, she lowered her voice. "What's the story?"

Matt sent a concerned look at Elisa, then spoke. "Goliath was shot when Cross entered the apartment. He was transported via a private ambulance service to a private medical facility at his wife's request, and is being treated by Doctor Bradley James. The ambulance arrived prior to the other officer's arrival, but his wounds were severe enough that transport couldn't wait."

Maria nodded. "I'm not sure if I should be concerned that you all are getting way too good at this or not."

"That's the public story," Matt said. "Since you learned of the clan, we've always told you the truth."

"Let's keep it that way, shall we?" Maria said briskly.

"Yes ma'am," Matt and Travis said at the same time.

"Where is Goliath at now?" Maria asked.

"Courtyard," Matt said.

Maria frowned. "He didn't actually make it back to the castle last night?"

"Maria," Travis said softly. "He wouldn't have made it. He almost didn't' anyway."

She blinked at him. "Meaning?"

"He lost a lot of blood and went unconscious," Matt reported. "In the time it took Travis and I to get him outside, he didn't have a pulse."

"Damn it," Maria said, sending Elisa a glance. "Please tell me…"

"I think we got his heart going again, just before the sun rose, but…" Matt drifted off, his uncertainty reflecting in his voice.

"We need to get Elisa out of here," Maria said, pushing her personal feelings aside.

"Captain," Matt said, surprised.

"This is a crime scene," Maria pointed out. "As much as I wish she could stay here, we need to treat it as we would any other crime scene, which means closing it off for the time being, getting her statement, and letting the NYPD do their jobs. I'm also going to add finding her a damn good clean-up crew."

"She's not going to want to leave," Matt pointed out.

"What she wants isn't in the cards right now," Maria said. "We can try to get her back in here around sunset, but for now, we need to get her taken care of. Matt, you take her to go pack a bag and change clothes. Travis, you make sure those clothes are bagged and tagged, like this was any other crime scene."

A pair of familiar raised voices came from the entryway, and Maria braced herself. "In the meantime, let me go try to calm Elisa's parents."


	18. Chapter 18

"I'm not going," Elisa argued in an angry whisper. "I can't leave Goliath."

"Elisa," Matt said, trying to remain calm in the face of the angry female. "You know that you have to go. Maria said that she's going to try to get you back in here before nightfall."

Elisa, dressed in clean clothes was standing with crossed arms and glaring at anyone who tried to come near her.

"I'm a detective. I know what I should and shouldn't touch." Elisa retorted. "I'll spend the day locked in my bedroom under lock and key if needed, but I'm not leaving. I have to be here at sunset, Matt," Her voice finally gave out under the stress and fear. "I have to be here," She ended on an almost whisper.

"I know that, Elisa," Matt said softly. "And we will try to get you back up here, one way or another."

Matt knew he only had a short time, minutes really, to convince Elisa to go quietly.

Her parents were outside ready to remove her from here by force if needed. Mat realized, after a brief conversation with them, that Elisa had been barely coherent on the phone, and hadn't gone into much detail.

Showing up to Elisa's apartment, swarming with police, the entryway covered in blood and a dead body in the living room had been a little much for her mom to take in. Peter, Elisa's dad, having been on the force himself, was usually a cool head in these situations, but being his daughter's home, he wasn't as collected as usual.

And both of them agreed that Elisa needed to get out of the condo until everything could be taken care of.

"Swear it," Elisa demanded.

"Elisa, please," Matt said. "you're my friend, and I would do anything to help you and the clan, but please don't make me give you a promise that I may not be able to keep."

Elisa swiped up the bag. "I'll go, but get me back up here, Matt."

Matt nodded, and she angrily left the room, the door slamming into the wall behind it.

Matt hung his head. Feeling the weight of guilt settle in his chest. He didn't know for certain that he had managed get Goliath's heart actually going again before sunrise, and had been second guessing himself since. Had he felt a heartbeat? Or had it just been wishful thinking?

What was going to happen if he was wrong, and Goliath didn't wake up after the sun set tonight?

-{- -{- -{- -{- -{- -{-

Elisa loved her parents, she really did, but she just wanted to be left alone.

They had insisted on getting her out of the condo, and had even gone so far as to rent her a hotel room for the night so that she would have somewhere to stay that didn't have blood stains and bullet holes.

As if she cared about that today.

She had resisted, saying that she could go stay at the castle with Skyler and Liam, and they could go home. Her parents flat out said that they weren't going to fall for it.

They had been arguing since they had picked Elisa up from her home.

Elisa knew that it was mostly her. She was physically and mentally exhausted from the events of last night, and the fear of the unknown over Goliath.

Then they called in Beth, which honestly hadn't helped a bit.

She had finally sent her parents to the castle, leaving her alone at the hotel. They were going to take over care of Liam for a while, and give Skyler some relief. She wished she could go with them, but she didn't know if she would hold it together for their son.

If something did happen and goliath didn't wake… she didn't know how she was going to be able to tell Liam.

NO, Elisa screamed at herself. She fought that thought off. Goliath had to wake up…

Elisa tried to get some rest, but her brain wouldn't stop going through each and every scenario of what could, what did and what may still happen.

Multiple times.

She finally gave up on sleep. She wasn't going to get any sleep anyway. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Goliath on the ground. Sometimes in human form, most of the time it was in his natural form.

She felt like the walls were closing in on her.

Beth, having found it impossible to be in the room with Elisa, but afraid to leave her completely alone, had gone downstairs to rent the next door room. Elisa took advantage of that now, and pounded on the door. Beth opened it right away, leading Elisa to believe that she'd literally been sitting right beside it in case Elisa tried to make a break for it or something…

But, honestly, wasn't that what she was actually trying to do? Maybe Beth was onto something.

"I need to go for a run," Elisa said.

"Okay," Beth said. "I'll come with."

Elisa gave her sister a once over. She had come straight over from her day job working at the museum, and was still wearing her white button up shirt, black pencil skirt and dressy black flats.

Beth saw the look and glanced down at herself. "Okay, not like this." She looked Elisa in the face and set her jaw into a frustrated line. "Every time I'm put in charge of keeping an eye on you, you disappear. Would you be willing to give me twenty minutes to go find something to run in?"

Elisa rolled her eyes. "Go. I'll give you half an hour."

"Thanks," Beth said, and made a made dash for her purse and then out the door into the outer hall.

Great. Now her sister was going out to spend money so that she could "keep an eye" on her. Elisa wasn't suicidal, and she pitied the mugger who tried anything with her today.

Elisa sat on the small chair in the room, but almost immediately popped back up. It was half an hour. She could do this.

Elisa began rummaging through her bag. She hadn't been really thinking straight when she'd packed it. She had thrown in her college sweats that she normally only wore to work out in, a single pair of jeans, an old tee that had definitely seen better days, a single pair of socks, no underwear and some really dirty running shoes that she was pretty sure had already been in the bag when she'd packed it.

Elisa didn't care. It took too much energy to care.

She got into the sweat suit and laced herself into the running shoes.

There, that had burned… five minutes.

To hell with this, Elisa fumed. She'd apologize to Beth later, she thought. She wrote an apology letter to Beth and left it on her dresser where she'd see it and headed out.

Central Park was only a few blocks away.

Her goal was to run off her excess nerves. If that didn't happen, maybe she could run herself into complete and utter exhaustion so that she could sleep until sunset.

She swept her hair back into a ponytail with a rubber band, courtesy of the front desk attendant.

Once her hair was out of her face, she began jogging towards the park. She kept a slow but steady pace while on the streets, but once she got to the park, she let herself go.

Central park is an area of roughly 840 acres. It is two and a half miles long, and around half a mile wide. Running a full loop around Central Park, depending on which paths you take, is just a little over 6.1 miles.

Elisa crossed Central Park West, and hopped on the 6 mile track just behind the famed Tavern on the Green. She knew this loop well, as it was her favorite… and the longest.

Once on the trail, she turned south and opened up to let herself run. She wove through and past groups of slower runners, and probably got a lot of angry looks and gestures, but she didn't care. She'd always been a natural athlete outdoors. It was the indoor workouts that she hated. Give her an open stretch of road or a jogging path, and she would run for hours with no complaints.

In no time at all, she reached the southwestern corner and rounded the curve that would eventually take her back North again. She passed the zoo, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and was approaching the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir when she started slowing down a little. Not so much to conserve the energy, but to draw it out a bit.

There was still so much daylight left when what lay ahead was still so uncertain.

Elisa had already completed most of the trail, and was passing the Glen Span Arch when she heard Beth's voice from ahead of her.

"Damn it, Elisa," Beth panted, running up to Elisa then switching directions to try to keep pace with her crazy athletic older sister. "How did I know you wouldn't wait for me? Why would I believe you?"

"I couldn't Beth," Elisa said breathily. "I couldn't sit anymore."

"I get that," Beth said, panting a little. "I just wish you would have waited for me."

They jogged together for a bit, making it just past the softball field area in the center of the Great Lawn before Beth begged her sister to stop.

Elisa nodded, slowing to a walk. Thanks to her all out running at the beginning, she was worn out a little earlier than normal.

"Thank you," Beth breathed.

The sisters walked in silence for a few minutes, until Elisa realized where they were.

There, on the edge of Turtle Pond, raising before them was Belvedere Castle. Elisa felt her breath hitch, her chest felt tight and she felt what little control she'd been holding on to start to slip from her grasp.

"Elisa?" Betha asked, seeing her sister's expression. "Elisa, what's wrong?"

Elisa gasped, before she let out a burst of hysteria-tinged laughter. Elisa walked to the very edge of the water and stared at the beautiful castle. Belvedere Castle had been the site of many nights alone with Goliath. It was where he had asked her to marry him, and where they had spent so much time together with their son.

Why had she thought this was a good idea?

Elisa turned to walk away, but her legs gave out and she ended up on her knees in the soft grass.

"Elisa!" Beth knelt beside her.

Elisa reached out and hugged her sister and let it go. She started crying in heaving sobs, her cries muffled by her sister's sweatshirt.

Beth sat there, and held Elisa. She couldn't imagine what her sister was going through, and was surprised she had held on for so long.

Even strong people broke sometimes, even people like Elisa who seemed almost bulletproof.

They had gotten a lot of attention, but as a few good samaritans started toward the pair, Beth would wave them away with a sad smile.

Elisa finally fell silent, but still clung to her sister. Except for the strength of Elisa's hold on her, Beth would have thought she'd fallen asleep.

"I can't lose him, Beth," Elisa's soft voice met Beth's ears.

Beth jerked. "What?"

Elisa slowly sat up and wiped her face clear with her sleeves. "I can't lose Goliath, Beth. I'm not sure I'd survive that."

Beth looked at Elisa in shock. "What makes you think you'll lose him?"

Elisa's watery gaze met her sister's. "Things are a little more… more serious than what I told mom and dad."

"Elisa," Beth pushed. "Talk to me. What do you mean more seriously? Mom told me that Goliath had been shot. What's more serious than that?"

Elisa pulled back enough to hug her own knees to her chest. In halting words, she told Beth what she hadn't been able to tell their mother. About the stalker, Goliath being in human form to protect her, the threat against their son, and the real reason that Liam had spent so much time at the castle lately.

Beth was stunned. Sure, she knew that Elisa didn't tell them everything, in the same way that their father hadn't when he was on the force. There had to be a line of separation between home life and being on the job. If you carried it around with you all the time, it would break you down.

But this wasn't just job stuff.

"Oh, Elisa," Beth sighed. "I wish I knew what to say." She slung an arm around her sister and got them both to their feet. "Let's go back to the hotel, shower and change."

Elisa sighed. "Why?"

Beth turned and wiped a stray tear from her sister's face. "Because," She said haughtily, "You, sister dear, reek. You are sweaty, gross, red faced and starting to smell a little. Your eyes are swollen and your nose is runny. And," She smiled encouragingly, "We both know that Goliath would hate to see you like this when he wakes up."

Elisa blinked at Beth. So many people around her, the ones who knew the truth about she and Goliath's situation, had avoided mentioning any kind of certainty of Goliath waking up. To finally hear someone else say it, like they believed it, helped ease some of the pressure in her chest.

Elisa nodded, "Thank you."

"What are sisters for?" Beth asked, her head tilted to the side. "Next time, though," She gave Elisa's arm a pinch, "Wait for me, okay?"

Elisa rubbed her arm where she'd been pinched. "Okay, Beth."

Together, arm in arm, the sisters made their way back to the jogging path, and made their way back to the hotel.


	19. Chapter 19

Once back at the hotel, Elisa took a shower and climbed into the single clean shirt that she'd brought with her. After the emotional purge and the exercise, Elisa laid back on the bed and passed out cold.

Beth watched it happen with a kind of fascination. She could swear that Elisa had been asleep before she'd even been completely on the bed.

Not that she could blame her.

Goliath was the love of her life, and she was his. They were the most devoted couple, outside of their parents, that Beth had ever seen. After they'd gotten married, it had only seemed to solidify their feelings into something that was almost unbreakable.

Then Liam had come along and helped them create this amazing family unit.

Beth knew that Elisa was wrong about one thing. Elisa said that she didn't think that she'd survive it if Goliath died. She'd live, Beth knew, but she'd forever be missing half of herself.

Beth left the barest gap in the door between the rooms, just in case Elisa needed her, but Beth went to pick up the phone. She called her dad's cell phone and talked to them both at length, filling them in on what Elisa hadn't told them about what had actually happened the night before.

At least, anything having to do with Goliath.

The whole stalker thing was up to Elisa to tell.

Once the seriousness of the situation had sunk in with the parents, Beth sat on the bed, her back to the wall, as the three of them began to plan.

It was agreed on by all of them. They had to get Elisa back to Goliath tonight, and come hell or high water, they were going to make it happen.

-{- -{- -{- -{- -{- -{-

"Elisa," Beth called, shaking her sister's shoulder. "Elisa, it's time to get up."

Elisa rolled onto her side, away from the voice interrupting her dream. Goliath and she were back on top of his tower, the night time skyline spread out as far as they could see. He was holding her back against his chest, her head turned so that she could hear the strong and steady beat of his heart.

"Elisa," The voice changed. It was deeper, more insistent and almost stern.

Elisa groaned loudly, annoyed at having her dream interrupted, and sat up.

"What?" Elisa asked.

"It's time to get up," Her mother said, as she moved about the room, scooping up the discarded exercise clothes and everything else that Elisa had spread everywhere. "I stopped by a store and got you some essentials."

"Essentials?" Elisa parroted. She had no idea what her mother was talking about.

"I snooped in your bag when we'd gotten here," Diane admitted. "I should have realized something was really wrong after I saw the absolute randomness that you'd thrown in here." Dian said, shoving the sweat suit and shoes into the duffle bag. "I stopped by a store and got you some clean clothes, toothpaste and toothbrush… the usual stuff when you're going to be somewhere else for a night."

"Thanks mom," Elisa said, gratefully.

"Go. Change," Diane said briskly. "It's still daylight, and sunset is still a few hours away, but we have some things still to do."

Elisa, toothbrush and paste in her hands, paused in the bathroom doorway. She glanced at her mother through the mirror that ran the length of the sink and vanity. "Mom?"

"Oh, please," Diane huffed. "You honestly think that we wouldn't help you? Your father and I thought you were just being stubborn about going to a hotel for a night. Had we known," Diane paused a moment together her thoughts, then approached her eldest daughter. "Had we known," She said again, "just how serious Goliath's condition was, we could have been making plans earlier. As it is," Diane waved a hand in the air, dismissively, "Well, that's neither here nor there. Go clean up. We can talk more when you are dressed."

Elisa whirled around to gather her mother into a brief, tight hug. "Thank you," She breathed, before whirling back into the bathroom to take care of business.

"Oh, my girl," Diane whispered, shaking her head.

-{- -{- -{- -{- -{- -{-

Elisa rushed through getting ready. She brushed her teeth, washed her face and got into the new jeans and shirt that her mother had brought. Running a quick brush through her hair, she was as ready to go as she'd ever be.

She found her whole family huddled around the small hotel table.

"What's the plan?" Elisa asked.

"We have a few options," Peter said. "We could contact Maria and have her clear the place out so that you could just go in the front door, but it has been less than 24 hours and involved an NYPD officer, meaning that they're going to be very thorough for the next day or two."

"So, probably not the best option," Elisa said, thoughtfully. "I don't want it to look like I was hiding anything or evidence tampering."

"My thoughts exactly," Peter said, nodding.

"Plan two," Beth said, "We have Derek fly you in. You could just go straight to the courtyard without having to go through the inside."

Elisa thought about it for a moment. "It would still be daylight, though, and as much as I want to be there, I'm not going to put Derek at risk."

"Good answer," Diane said. "I wasn't comfortable with that one, either."

"What's the third option," Elisa asked.

Diane gave a disgruntled sigh. "We have Xanatos drop you there via helicopter."

Elisa raised an eyebrow at her mom.

Diane threw her hands up in the air. "A mother is allowed to hold a grudge."

Elisa smiled. "I get it mom."

"So far," Peter said, "It seems that the helicopter is the safest option."

"It would be," Elisa said, frowning. "I didn't want to contact the castle until I know what…" Elisa trailed off, not able to put it into words. "I didn't want to worry the clan."

"She's your daughter," Peter muttered to Diane.

Diane elbowed him sharply.

"What do you think, Elisa?" Beth asked. "Want to contact the X-man and see if he can give you a ride?"

Elisa shrugged. "I guess it's the best option."

"Okay then," Peter said. "I guess we're going back to the castle."


	20. Chapter 20

Elisa insisted that she be the only one to talk to them, and managed to corner the power couple in David Xanatos' office.

David and Fox Xanatos sat in a stunned silence when Elisa had finished her story.

Fox spoke first. "Goliath was hurt that badly?"

Elisa nodded her head, still afraid to vocalize her fears. It felt as if she spoke it, it would somehow make her deepest fears come true.

Fox leaned against her husband's desk, arms crossed, and closed her eyes as if deep in thought.

David, leaned back in his massive office chair, stroking his chin while thinking over this new development.

"We could always just have him brought here," David said. "We've done it before. It would be a lot less attention getting than dropping someone on a roof in broad daylight."

Elisa looked at the clock. "Is there enough time?" She asked, doubtful.

"Of course," David said, getting to his feet in one smooth motion. "However, if you would like him brought here, we need to begin now."

Elisa closed her eyes. As much as she wanted to shield the clan from what happened, she knew that one way or the other, they would know tonight anyway.

"Let's do it," Elisa said.

David nodded, and reached for his phone.

-{- -{- -{- -{- -{- -{-

Xanato's team made it back to the castle with half an hour to spare, Goliath's stone form encased in a large opaque wrapping and cradled inside a large net of some kind.

At Elisa's insistence, he was laid on the surface of his tower.

Once he was safely back on the ground, and "unwrapped", by an unspoken understanding everyone left the couple alone.

Elisa sat beside Goliath on the cold stone of his tower, truly alone with her thoughts for the first time that day. She reached out and took hold of one of his hands with hers, and waited there as the time slowly crept by.

Eventually, the sky began to darken as the sun retreated behind the taller skyscrapers. What few clouds still hung in the evening sky began to change colors, and Elisa got to her feet.

Any moment now, Goliath was going to wake up and take her in his arms and tell her that everything was going to be alright.

The familiar sound of the stone cracking reached her ears, and she instinctively raised an arm to protect her face from flying debris.

Gargoyle roars split the air…

But not the one she wanted to hear the most.

Elisa dropped her arm, and gazed at her husband's figure, still and cold stone.

"Goliath," Elisa whispered, and knelt by him where he lay. "Come on, big guy."

Still, nothing.

Elisa's legs gave out, and she landed roughly on her knees beside Goliath.

Rapid footfalls sounded from the stairs of the tower. Skyler's voice called from the doorway, "Elisa, how's Goli…" She stopped short, her face a mask of shock and grief. "Oh, god…"

Elisa crossed her arms over her midsection. "No," Elisa screamed and began to sob.

Skyler ran to the edge of the tower that loomed over the courtyard below. She scanned, and spotted the clan. Judging by their expressions, they were probably looking around for the threat after hearing Elisa's scream.

"Brooklyn!" She screamed. "God, Brooklyn, help!"

Brooklyn's head swung upward, the tone of her voice, one he'd never heard before urging him into action. He dropped to all fours, and scaled the outer stairs that led to the top of the tower.

"Skyler!" He breathed, pulling himself over the decorative merlon edge. "What happened…"

He took in the scene then. Skyler was standing before him, her eyes streaming tears, and covering her mouth with her hands. Elisa was on the ground sobbing, and Goliath was still in his stone form, unmoving.

Without speaking, Brooklyn swung an arm out, and swept Skyler into his arms. He buried his face into her neck so that he didn't have to see the body of his leader. His friend. His clan brother.

Brooklyn heard the sound of talons on stone, and knew that the clan had hurried to follow him upwards.

Brooklyn raised his head to see Broadway comforting a weeping Angela, as Hudson and Lexington hurried to help Elisa. Hudson knelt beside Elisa, placing hand on her back as Elisa continued to cry.

There was a commotion at the doorway of the inner stairway leading to the tower, as a few of Elisa's family pushed their way through. Peter came through first, and took it all in with a single glance. While Beth stopped at the doorway, Peter hurried forward, and scooped his eldest daughter up in his arms as if she were still a small child.

He stood with her and began quickly walking her back into the castle. He leaned over to whisper something to Beth, and Beth turned to lead the way back inside.

Brooklyn gave Skyler a final comforting squeeze. "Skyler, go with Elisa," He said softly.

Skyler lifted her head and gazed into his eyes, his sorrow seeming to be mirrored in hers.

After a moment, Skyler gave him a small nod, then turned to follow the Mazas.

-{- -{- -{- -{- -{- -{-

Peter carried Elisa carefully down the winding stairs of the round tower. He had sent Beth ahead to get the Xanatos to call Doctor James for help.

They had to pass the playroom on the way to the elevators. There was no way around it, so Peter quickened his steps as much as he could.

Diane came to the door to see what the commotion was, her hands going to her chest when she saw Elisa and realized what must have happened.

"Keep the kids occupied, Diane," Peter said softly. "They don't need to see this."

Diane, tears in her eyes, took a breath and returned to the room, shutting the door behind her to block the kids from seeing or hearing the hallway.

Fox Xanatos stood in the entry of the elevator, holding the door open so that they wouldn't have to wait in the hall for the car to arrive.

"Thank you," Peter told her.

Fox could only nod and retreat, allowing the doors to close.

"I know, my girl," Peter said, holding Elisa closely. "I am so sorry."

"It's my fault," Elisa sobbed.

"It's not," Peter said firmly. "None of this was your fault."

"But it is," Elisa said. "He was there because of me. If he hadn't been there, he'd still be…" She couldn't even finish the thought.

Peter knew that she wasn't going to hear anything he said now, so he just held her while she cried, watching the numbers slowly count down until they reached the medical floor.

Doctor James, his nurse and Wife Kiersten, and Elisa's nurse friend Margaret met them at the elevators. All three faces reflecting their own shock and sorrow, having gotten the news from Beth.

"Let us take her," Doctor James said, offering to take Elisa from Peter's arms.

Peter shook his head. He was not going to leave his daughter, and asked for them to lead them to where they needed to go.

Doctor James nodded and led the way to one of the treatment rooms.

Peter laid her on the white draped bed, watching helplessly as his daughter suffered a loss that he had hoped to never have his children go through in his lifetime.

Doctor James readied a syringe and gave Elisa an injection of a fairly powerful sedative. Margaret went to the opposite side of the bed from Peter, and took her hand.

"We're here for you Elisa," She said softly. "And we'll be here when you wake up."

Elisa grabbed Margaret's hand with one of hers, and her father's hand with the other, as she let the darkness flow over her.


	21. Chapter 21

On the tower, the clan surrounded their fallen leader. Their heads bowed, tears flowing, they said their goodbyes.

After a time, Brooklyn let out a deep sigh and shook his head. "We will perform a wind ceremony tomorrow," He said, referencing the traditional Gargoyle funeral for the fallen. "But he would hate for us to abandon Elisa right now, so tonight, we will go to be with her."

One by one, the younger members peeled off to go below. Hudson was the last to go. He placed his taloned hand on his leader's chest. "Goodbye, my friend." He said softly, before turning to join his clan.

Hudson was about to leap over the edge and join the others in the courtyard below when he heard the first crackle. Sure it was just wishful thinking, he almost didn't stop.

Glancing behind him, he saw the stone skin on his leader begin to crack.

-{- -{- -{- -{- -{- -{-

Elisa floated in darkness, a blessed numbness taking over. She couldn't think. Couldn't feel.

She didn't want to feel.

She had found her soulmate, she was convinced of that, and because she couldn't seem to get a handle on her own life, she had been the cause of his death.

Just the thought of never seeing Goliath again, shot a white hot lance of pain through her chest. Elisa turned to her side and curled into a ball of misery.

"Elisa," came a familiar voice.

She began to sob.

"Oh, my Elisa," Goliath's voice echoed in her ears. "My love, please do not cry so."

Elisa felt his familiar touch on her forehead.

Elisa opened her eyes, and saw through her sedated haze, the beloved face of her husband inches from her.

"Goliath," Elisa said, raising a hand to touch his face, but dripping it before she actually made contact. "I know this is a dream, and you aren't really here," She said sadly. "I am so sorry."

Goliath frowned at her. He had been told that she'd been so upset that they had to give her something to calm down. While he could understand, as he'd been in that position himself a time or two thinking he had lost her, he hadn't expected her to not trust her own senses.

"Sorry for what?" Goliath asked her.

"For you having to be there last night," Elisa said softly. "If I wasn't such a weakling, you wouldn't have felt the need to be there to protect me, and you'd still be here."

"I am here, My Elisa," He ran a taloned finger over her brow.

"No you're not," Elisa said sadly. "But while I'm still dreaming, could you hold me, please?"

Goliath scooped her into his arms and held her tight to his chest, burying his face into her hair and breathing in her scent.

Elisa laid in his arms and began to cry again, turning her face into his chest.

Goliath felt helpless to comfort her.

When he had awoken on his tower, he had a moment of disorientation. His memories from the night before were a little hazy, but he remembered being shot clearly. From that moment, he had brief flashes and impressions, but nothing concrete in his memory.

He had given a stretch and a roar, and realized that he was on his back. He stood up, puzzled, and brushed the remaining bits of stone dust off of his shoulders. When he looked up, it was into the stunned face of his clan.

After they had all rushed forward to greet him, and his daughter had all but soaked him in tears, they had told him of his delayed awakening that evening.

He was still trying to put the pieces together when he remembered the gunman. He remembered hearing Elisa's voice after that, but he didn't know if she'd been hurt.

He began frantically looking around the crowd, searching for his love. Not seeing her, he put the question of her whereabouts to his clan.

It was then that they had hesitantly told him where she was.

And why.

He had wasted no more time, throwing himself over the edge, and gliding into the courtyard. He ran into the great hall, and all but _over_ the Xanatos family who had been huddled just inside.

David Xanatos let out a particularly vicious round of swearing and Fox dealt with her own shock.

He didn't stop, leaving explanations to his clan. He didn't even bother with the elevators, choosing instead to run down the stairs because he could scale them faster.

He burst out onto the medical floor and began shouting for the doctor.

Doctor James had come running with Peter Maza not far behind. The two men had a job trying to get him to calm down before he started tearing into the walls.

The men had shouted at him, telling him that Elisa was fine, but sleeping. That had calmed him enough to make it possible to listen to what they were actually trying to explain about the situation.

Finally, they had allowed him to take his place by Elisa's bed. He had sat there for hours, holding her hand and running his fingers through her hair, waiting for her to wake.

Now that she had, however, she didn't believe that he was there, and he didn't know how to convince her otherwise. He had to find a way, though. his time was limited, the minutes ticking down, until he would have to retreat once more into the stone sleep for the day.

He needed to get through to her before then. He didn't want her to spend the day in this state of sadness and confusion.

"Elisa," He gave her a little shake. "Love, you need to wake up."

"If I wake up, you'll be gone," Elis said, her eyes closed tightly.

He couldn't help it. Despite the gravity of the situation, her stubbornness was adorable. He loved everything about this small female in his arms.

"My love," He said, "I am not a dream. Please open your eyes."

Elisa slowly opened her eyes, the luminous shine of unshed tears tearing at his heart.

"Oh, Elisa," He said, getting to his feet with her still in his arms. "What can I do to convince you that I am real?"

Elisa didn't even hesitate. "Take me flying."

He smiled down at her. "As you wish."

He carried her through the medical wing, up the stairs, and back through the castle.

While they passed various members of the clan as well as many shocked humans, he didn't stop. He climbed the steps to his tower and out into the cooled night air.

Without a pause, he hopped up onto the raised wall and flung them out into the night.

Elisa gasped, the familiar feeling of weightlessness and the buoyancy when Goliath opened his wings to catch the air currents finally catching her attention. She raised her face to his, and finally raised her hand to touch his face.

"Goliath," Elisa said softly. "I thought I had lost you."

"No," Goliath said firmly. "I will always fight to stay by your side, my love."

Elisa flung her arms around his neck, making him weave a little in the air.

"I am so sorry to have worried you," Goliath said, turning his body to begin the climb back up to the castle.

"You didn't wake with the others," Elisa said brokenly. "I thought…"

"I am not sure why that happened," Goliath admitted. "But I have never seen a gargoyle go into stone sleep that injured, on top of reversing a powerful spell, either."

"Let's not do it again," Elisa said into his neck. "Okay?"

"Alright," Goliath agreed. If either of them could avoid such events in the future, that would be best.

Gently, he brought them down into the courtyard. He lowered Elisa to stand on her own feet, but didn't fully release her. Instead, he caped his wings around her to shelter her from the night wind and prying eyes.

Elisa wasn't paying attention to anything except the miracle holding her.

Everything and everyone else could just wait their turn.


	22. Chapter 22

ONE WEEK LATER

Maria, in keeping with the story that they had come up with, ordered Elisa to stay home for a week to "take care of her wounded husband".

Elisa didn't argue.

In the week since Jeremy Cross had shot Goliath, Elisa and Goliath had spent every waking moment together, alone or with their family.

Tonight, Elisa and Goliath were watching as the clan's children were playing tag in the castle's courtyard. The air was filled with happy laughter and the squeals of happiness.

Goliath sat behind her, and Elisa was reclining on his lap, her back resting against his chest. As had become something of a habit over the last week, Elisa turned her head, so that her ear was to his chest and she could listen to the deep beating of his heart.

It was going to take her a while before she got over the heart pounding anxiety that would occasionally creep up on her that this was all a dream, and she was going to wake up to find out that Goliath wasn't really there.

"Mama!" Liam shouted before flinging himself into her arms.

Elisa caught him reflexively, her breath coming out in a groan as his sturdy weight hit her.

She and Goliath laughed, enjoying the moment with their exuberant son, Elisa making him squeal by tickling him.

Liam was content to roll around on the for a few minutes, but then ran to rejoin the Xanatos children and the clan twins.

Once their son was once more scampering about with the others, Goliath chuckled.

Elisa tilted her head back to look at him. "What are you laughing at, Big Guy?"

"Our son is greatly enjoying himself," He said with a smile down at her.

"Yeah," Elisa said with a sigh. "I got a little spoiled this week," Elisa admitted. "I go back to work tomorrow, and then it's back to the craziness of the overnight schedules."

Involuntarily, Elisa frowned.

Goliath gave her a comforting squeeze with his arms around her waist.

He didn't have to say anything. She knew that they had both been shaken by the actions of Jeremy Cross. Once Elisa had come back to earth from the mega sedation that Doctor James had given her, and everyone had recovered from Goliath's sudden awakening, she had done a little digging of her own.

Jeremy had been something of a serial stalker. When he'd been in his mid-teens, he had been arrested for stalking then physically abusing a girl in his high school that he'd been convinced liked him. He had done a turn in a juvenile facility before being released back into society.

The only thing that the turn in Juvenile services had done was to teach him to be more cautious and how to not get caught. There had been some accusations from a few more females about his stalking habits, but with no solid evidence, Jeremy had been able to avoid being jailed.

Then, two years ago, his parents had died in a car accident, leaving him the sole caregiver for his brother, Chris.

From the reports that his therapist had made to the officers after Jeremy's death, Jeremy had been struggling keeping things together for him and his brother. He'd had a kind of fixation of finding the perfect "mother figure" to help him raise Chris.

Which was why it was assumed that seeing Elisa work with the kids at the hospital and later playing with the wheelchair bound kids at the YMCA had shifted his focus on to Elisa.

Elisa had finally been able to accept that it had been nothing in particular that had drawn his attention to her. It had just been a wrong time, wrong place kind of situation. It truly hadn't been anything that she'd done, and it had been something of a relief to know that.

Whether he had come to her condo intent on killing anyone was still up for debate, and something they would probably never know. He had gotten a high quality police uniform replica, and had come up with a loaded weapon, so it was safe to assume that he had been planning on at least hurting someone.

Elisa had been a little uneasy about returning to the condo after everything that had happened, but the clean up crew that Maria had sent over had done a phenomenal job. They had even patched up the hole in the wall that the bullet Jeremy had intended for Elisa had left.

Elisa had made arrangements for an upgrade to the security system of the condo, one of which was a video camera at her front door so that she could see who was there as they exit the elevator.

Honestly, however, it was having Goliath there with her. Even if it was just to be in the courtyard during the day's sleep, Elisa felt more and more at ease being there.

Goliath frowned down at Elisa. He recognized that look, and gave her a gentle shake.

Elisa blinked, and seemed to refocus her thoughts. "Sorry," She said with a sheepish grin.

He smiled down at her. He could understand, and because he could, he leaned down to press his forehead to hers.

He raised up and urged her to her feet. He rose to stand beside her and reached into the pouch on his belt. "I found something for you last evening."

Elisa smiled, puzzled. They had stayed home last night, and he'd slept on the rooftop courtyard of the condo through the day. When had he had the time to do anything?

"Hold out your hands," Goliath instructed her.

Elisa sent him a suspicious look, but did as she was instructed. She closed her eyes and held out her hands.

She felt Goliath take her left hand, turn it and then the familiar sensation of him slipping on…

Elisa gasped and her eyes flew open. "My ring!" She gasped, looking into the deep blue and green stone. "Where did you find it?"

Goliath chuckled. "It was in a potted plant."

Elsia laughed. It had taken two days for the investigation to wrap up and the crime scene cleaners to come through, but when they'd finally gotten back into the condo, they had spent the better part of two nights looking for it.

It didn't help that Elisa's last recollection was breaking the chain and hearing it hit somewhere behind her.

She'd thought it was gone forever.

Goliath had found it for her, after searching for who knows how long.

Elisa smiled at her husband. "Thank you, Goliath."

Goliath smiled, and raised her left hand to place a gentle kiss on her knuckles, just above where the ring sat on her ring finger. "You are very welcome."

"Alright, love birds," Brooklyn called to them. "Think you can separate long enough to get this tired kid home?"

Elisa glanced over to see Liam, a thin line of drool running from his lips to Brooklyn's shoulder.

Goliath chuckled, moving to collect his son from the clan's second. Goliath lifted the boy to his own shoulder, and offered Brooklyn a hand to shake. The two of them clasped wrists, shaking in the old manner of Scottish warriors.

"I will take my wife and son home now," He said with a smile at the sleeping child. "I trust that you will be able to keep an eye on those here."

"You bet," Brooklyn said, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Thanks Brooklyn," Elisa said, impulsively giving him a hug. "Since we'll be home, you wouldn't mind if Skyler stays here with you, would you?"

Brooklyn opened his mouth to say something, then snapped it closed again, his cheeks turning just a single shade redder.

Elisa laughed. "Take it from me," She said as she backed away from him. "You don't want to waste any time that you have, and enjoy every minute together."

Elisa turned to retrieve Laim's coat, and gently worked their son's arms into the sleeves for the trip home. Once that was done, Elisa took hold of Liam while Goliath lifted them both.

Elisa cuddled their son and relished the strength of her husband's arms that was protecting them both.

The hellish hours when she'd thought she'd lost almost everything to her would take a while to fade, even as she knew they would never completely disappear. She had made a vow to herself, though, that she was never going to take anything for granted again.


End file.
